


Given a drop of water

by General_Zargon



Category: Bleach, The Founder of Diabolism, The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Genre: BAMF Jiang Cheng, Canon Divergence, Ichigo can't even die normally, Ichigo-as-Jiang-Cheng, M/M, Reincarnation, Time Travel, as everyone in Japan's afterlife will tell you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-04-21 16:13:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14288640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/General_Zargon/pseuds/General_Zargon
Summary: In the present, Kurosaki Ichigo dies.In the past, Jiang Cheng is born.The two events are not as unconnected as you'd think.(Because really, can you think of anyone else who embodies the YunmengJiang Sect motto more?)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Behold, my meager contribution to the English side of this fandom. :) I know nothing about xianxia or the culture of this series beyond what I read in the translated portion of the GDC novel and fanfics. *Chucks this out there anyway* If enough people like it, I might continue it. I have a vague idea for a second chapter that time-skips up to when Wei WuXian meets Jiang Cheng on Dafan Mountain from Jiang Cheng's point, but nothing solid.

_Name: Jiang Cheng_

_Age: Five years-old_

_Hair Color: Black_

_Eye Color: Gray_

_Occupation: First son of Sect Leader Jiang FengMian and young master of the YunmengJiang Sect_

_...What, not what you were expecting? Yeah, me neither._

_I used to be someone completely different. Different name, different age, different hair and eye color, different_ everything _. They say life works in mysterious ways, but then again, so does death._

* * *

The first thing those who met young Jiang Cheng learned was that the boy practically embodied the saying, "Given a drop of water, repay with an ocean".

Everyone in Lotus Pier, the base of the YunmengJiang Sect, had a story about the young master returning any kindness given a thousand times over. Not even his own family was spared; his mother and sister taught him how to brush and style hair, and he went and learned to sew in order to mend their favorite clothes so they didn't have to be replaced (often times his mending looked better than the original design, much to his family's confusion).

It was always surprising, the contrast between the boy's expression and his actions. As he'd grown, it had become more and more obvious that Jiang Cheng's default expression was a frown, and that made his acts of kindness all the more startling. An older cook whose wrists and fingers frequently cramped gave the boy an extra helping of rice, and hours later returned to their quarters to find a jar of balm for sore joints on their bed. One of the servants showed him how to weave a flower-crown for his older sister, and scarcely an hour later had been presented with a new pair of shoes to replace their worn ones. On and on the stories went.

Jiang Cheng was a very intelligent child, learning to read and write much sooner than his peers and quickly comprehending his lessons, he was judged to be a prodigy. One that could even grow to rival his generation's Two Jades of Lan from the GusuLan Sect. Jiang FengMian was rather proud, and shamelessly boasted of his son's potential to other Sect Leaders whenever he had the chance, which they had to tolerate lest they look envious and lose face. Though he was unquestionably talented, Jiang Cheng's personality was often described as abrasive (that the ones doing that describing were the tutors that only took the position in the hopes of currying favor and didn't do their jobs had nothing to do with it, really), thus he did not often spend time with children his own age, preferring the company of his sister YanLi.

When his father, the Sect Leader, brought back Wei Ying and forced Jiang Cheng to send away the dogs he played with because the orphaned son of his old servant was afraid of the animals, everyone expected Jiang Cheng to be angry. Even YanLi worried, and she was undoubtedly the one closest to him. They all thought he would snap and push away his newly-adopted brother, perhaps even bully him, as Jiang Cheng was known to have a fierce temper and a sharp tongue when riled.

He did none of these things.

* * *

Jiang Cheng took to the position of 'shidi' like a fish to water. In a spectacular shattering of expectations, the boy looked after Wei Ying as if the other child truly shared his blood.

The pair soon became inseparable, and it quickly became apparent that their personalities couldn't be more different for all that they were brothers. Wei Ying was always smiling, Jiang YanLi would say wistfully, while Jiang Cheng didn't seem to smile unless someone's life depended on it, and even then it wasn't guaranteed. Still, Jiang Cheng obviously cared deeply for his new brother, following Wei Ying into mischief and pulling him out of more than a few troublesome scrapes. Scaring off strange dogs was just the beginning. Sometimes it seemed not a day went by that Wei Ying wasn't off causing trouble, Jiang Cheng following close behind to try and keep things from getting too out of hand. He didn't always succeed, but it was the effort that counted, he claimed.

It wasn't just Wei Ying either; Jiang Cheng caused his own share of mishaps, he was just  _much_ more subtle about it.

(One of the good things about this life? His control was a _lot_ better.)

* * *

Years passed swiftly, and then when they were fifteen, they were sent to study at the Cloud Recesses of the GusuLan Sect and Jiang Cheng turned out to have a gift for vaguely prophetic commentary.

Wei Ying, now called Wei WuXian, was kicked out.

Jiang Cheng, now called Jiang WanYin, stayed.

Honestly, he thought Wei Ying was the lucky one. Those walls of rules were  _ridiculous_.

 _Worse than the Kuchiki Clan_ , he mentally grumbled and thickened his face to last through the remainder of his stay without punching someone.

* * *

By the time his study-period at the Cloud Recesses had ended, Jiang Cheng was sure of several things.

First, Lan Qiren had a stick up his ass thicker than Old Man Yama's cane.

Second, Nie Huaisang was shrewder than he looked (the guy reminded him of Urahara Kisuke - he was appropriately suspicious).

Third, Lan Wangji was in love with Wei Ying, even if it was just the seed of a crush right now.

Fourth, the next few years were going to be a headache and a half.

(He was right, and oh how he wished he wasn't.)

* * *

The QishanWen Sect grew more arrogant. The decent ones were far outnumbered by the cruel ones, and the drums of war began to beat as more and more sects grew incensed.

Then the QishanWen Sect did something unforgivable, as far as Jiang Cheng was concerned. He and several others were captured, including Wei Ying.

His Core Formation was destroyed. Wei Ying was branded. The second enraged him more than the first.

He went along with Wei Ying's trick, feeling sick and wanting to howl his grief to the heavens when his  _brother's Core Formation_  was implanted where his used to be. (Wen Qinq reminded him of Inoue all too well...). The feeling of uselessness ripped at his soul with sword-sharp talons. It was all he could do to pretend he  _didn't know_. He sobbed like he hadn't since his previous mother died when he was finally, finally left alone for long enough to vent his rage and self-loathing.

It was the greatest and cruelest of ironies; Kurosaki Ichigo had been given power by his birthright and forced to reach for more to defend his loved ones until he was the unwilling strongest, thriving in battle and wishing to be able to set aside his strength. Jiang Cheng was born to a cultivation sect and had to work like everyone else for his power, working alongside others for each step forward and knowing it was enough...until now, when he longed to have his old power back so his loved ones didn't have to suffer.

Wei Ying was too much like both of his selves.

The Sunshot Campaign happened.

* * *

After that, everything spiraled out of his control.

Jiang Cheng was now Sect Leader. His parents, sister, and brother-in-law were dead. He had a nephew to care for, and his brother's reputation was getting worse and worse.

Wei Ying's demonic cultivation. Being named Yiling Patriarch. Sheltering the remnants of the Wen Sect. The Ghost General.

(He talked and talked until his throat bled, urging the other Sect Leaders to leave them be, delaying the attack as much as he could.  _The war is over, let the survivors have their peace_! He urged, and was ignored.)

Then came the Siege of Luanzang Hill. Once again, his world ended, and again there was nothing he could do to stop it.


	2. Dafan Mountain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jiang Cheng goes with Jin Ling on a night-hunt and meets some familiar someones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, the plot bunny talked me into it. So here's the Dafan Mountain event, Jiang Cheng version. Also, please note that the bold words are actual dialogue that's used in the novel...I think. Might need to go reread it to make sure I didn't muck things up too badly.

Two days into the night-hunt on Dafan Mountain, Jiang Cheng was about ready to kill someone. Preferably his brother-in-law, Jin GuangYao.

Night-hunts were supposed to be fair contests between cultivators, with everyone given an equal chance of catching the prey. The levels of experience between them may vary, but the point was that everyone had the same opportunity. The matter of stolen souls at Dafan Mountain seemed like the perfect chance for Jin Ling to gain some much needed experience in both hunting and battle. With a small number of other YunmengJiang Sect disciples to form a hunting party, it was sure to be a learning experience for all of them. It wasn't like other cultivators weren't forming hunting groups of their own, so it was more than fair. Jiang Cheng was sure that Jin Ling would be fine, but Jin GuangYao apparently had no such confidence in their nephew.

Suggesting that Jiang Cheng accompany Jin Ling as a precaution, fine, he could understand the concern and wasn't troubled by following along to observe. Sending a few of his own Jin Sect's disciples to join Jin Ling's group, also something he didn't have a problem with, the more the merrier. Giving those disciples four hundred deity-binding nets with instructions to set the nets up all over the mountain?  _That_ he had a problem with. It was blatant sabotage of the other cultivators, a direct impeding of their efforts! Such things were against the rules of night-hunting! Jiang Cheng's face practically turned purple when he saw the first unlucky few to get snared in the traps, however it was Jin Ling's attitude towards the trapped that made his blood boil.

He had raised that foolish child better than that! Who taught him to mock and belittle others who came expecting fairness, only to be greeted with duplicity? Certainly not Jiang Cheng!

Keeping his face thick and pretending not to hear the angry mutters and insults when he lowered the nets and let the poor cultivators out without damaging the nets was a challenge, but not nearly as great a one as 'advising' them to leave the mountain with a straight face even as he bit back apologies. What had the Jin Sect been teaching that boy?! He knew for a fact that the last time Jin Ling stayed at Lotus Pier he hadn't been nearly this bad!

Jiang Cheng had just finished releasing yet another trapped group and sending them off with veiled warnings of avoiding the mountain for the time being when he heard Jin Ling yell. For all that he was angry with the boy for being such a brat, he was still concerned, and so wasted no time in rushing towards the source of the sound. When he arrived, the sight that greeted him made him want to either laugh and weep, it was so familiar. It was like a scene from his own childhood, only instead of Wei Ying standing above another disciple after slapping a talisman to their back, it was Jin Ling on the ground as a dark-clothed youth stood above him. He'd gotten there just in time to hear the youth's question about who Jin Ling's uncle was, and if he was waiting for a cue he likely wouldn't find a better one. Shaking off the dust of nostalgia, he stepped forward and spoke.

" **I am his uncle. Do you have any last words?** "

Resting a hand on the hilt of his sword Sandu (he suffered a mild pang in his heart at the thought of another sword he once wielded but shrugged it off with the ease of long practice), he approached with confident footsteps, the bell at his waist making no noise as he moved. He stopped ten steps away from the dark youth that, he noted with narrowed eyes, had painted his face to resemble a hanged ghost. All that was missing was the red tongue. Jiang Cheng had the urge to shake his head - really, did the boy want to be attacked by cultivators? That was hardly a safe appearance to wear in the middle of a night-hunt - but refrained as he gathered his composure around him, thickened his face, and did his best to project an aura of arrogance. He also deepened his frown.

" **Jin Ling, why did you linger for so long? Do you really need me to come and pick you up? Look at what a terrible situation you're in right now, and get up!** "

Not that he'd been all that anxious, but he was trying to keep his brat of a nephew from offending too many people before the three days he'd set aside to accompany the kid were up. A foolish and perhaps even impossible wish, but Jiang Cheng was usually pretty good at doing things considered impossible. He hoped some of that luck would come into play here, but apparently not, if the way Jin Ling abruptly stood up and reached for his sword while snarling a threat were any indication. Although he had caught a glimpse of movement right before Jin Ling suddenly became able to stand up on his own, so perhaps...

A twitch of his finger pulled the paper doll from the heavily made-up youth's hand to his own, and he stared at it for a long moment, eyes unseeing as memories besieged him. A blink, and he returned to the present, crushing the talisman in his fist and burning it to dust in a rush of flame accompanied by the scream of dark spirits. This was not the time to think about Wei Ying, he told himself, Jin Ling taking his silent action as encouragement and lunging forward with his sword bared. Before Jiang Cheng could move to stop his nephew, someone did it for him, in the form of the blue glare of a sword that flashed like lightning and knocked Jin Ling's weapon from his hand, startling the dark youth sprawling at the feet of his savior.

Jiang Cheng wished he could say he was surprised, but honestly with the way his day had been going, he should have expected Lan WangJi to show up. His sword " _Bichen_ " being sheathed at his side and the seven-stringed zither " _WangJi_ " on his back were introduction enough, but he would know those mourning clothes and bitter expression like his wife had just died anywhere.

(He was firmly ignoring the part of him that whispered of how he'd expected Wei Ying to play the part of the wife, and not just unknowingly.)

To distract himself from that most unwelcome thought, he spoke again, " **And I was wondering who it was. So, it is you, Second Young Master Lan.** " Raising one brow when the other man silently moved to face him, the dark youth quickly moving passed the white-garbed cultivator, he continued almost casually, " **HanGuang-Jun, you sure live up to your reputation of 'being wherever the chaos is'. So, you had time to come to this remote area today?** " and inwardly he was cursing, because he could see the junior GusuLan Sect members behind Lan WangJi bristling at his tone. Okay, so some of his frustration might have slipped in, because normally he would welcome the presence of Lan WangJi, as the other would not suffer any unfairness in a night-hunt and would doubtlessly take care of the deity-binding nets, but now they probably blame  _him_ for those thrice-damned nets being there in the first place!

One of the GusuLan juniors spoke, asking if Sect Leader Jiang wasn't there as well. Which, fair point, but still. Then another one stepped up at a look from Lan WangJi, setting the other juniors to talking among themselves and speaking to Jin Ling, saving Jiang Cheng from having to comment and likely sound like a bastard. He thanked the junior in his heart; the boy showed promise, a lot more than his nephew did when the brat scowled to match Jiang Cheng and claimed it was the other cultivators' fault for walking into the traps. He had the strong urge to cover his face with a hand, but refrained, and a scarce moment later was glad he did. Jin Ling's upper and lower lips seemed to be glued together when the boy went to speak again, and though Jiang Cheng agreed wholeheartedly with the sentiment, he had to put on a show of anger.

" **You, with the Lan surname!** What is the meaning of this? It is not your place to discipline Jin Ling, so release the spell, now!" Or don't, he was fine either way, he mentally added. Some forced reflection time would be good for the boy. Honestly, either Jin GuangYao was an incompetent parental figure, or something else was going on, because each time Jin Ling went to stay at Carp Tower he came back to Lotus Pier more and more of a brat. The silence spell was rather harmless as far as such things went, used by the Lan Sect to reprimand its disciples. Wei Ying had suffered greatly from this small trick back when they studied at the Cloud Recesses, Jiang Cheng recalled. Although it wasn't anything complicated, only those of the Lan Sect could release the spell. If you tried to break it and forcibly speak, you would either have to deal with your lips being ripped bloody or a hoarse throat for several days.

The junior he had pegged as having promise spoke again, explaining what Jiang Cheng already knew, but before he could respond, one of the Jiang Sect's disciples ran up shouting for him, only to hesitate at the sight of Lan WangJi. Holding an aggrieved sigh behind his teeth, Jiang Cheng asked satirically, "Let me guess, there is more bad news?" Because one disaster always followed another, and that was just the way his day was going.

"Not long ago, a blue sword flew over and destroyed the deity-binding nets that were set up." The man spoke lowly, and Jiang Cheng could only be grateful that the man hadn't tried to say that  _he_ had set them up.

"How many were broken?" He asked, just so he would know how much to subtly gloat at Jin GuangYao for losing later. He'd  _told_ that guy that it was a bad idea.

"...All of them..."

Of course they were, HanGuang-Jun was nothing if not thorough.

Despite what any watching, including Jin Ling, probably thought, Jiang Cheng actually wasn't that angry. In fact, he was rather pleased. It was always nice to be proved to be in the right in an argument of fairness. He now had to think of a polite way to say 'I told you so' to Jin GuangYao without it looking like that was what he was doing. The guy reminded him way too much of Aizen for comfort, so he had to play it carefully. Narrowing his eyes thoughtfully, his left hand moved to stroke the ring on his right hand's index finger. " _Zidian_ ", it was called, and it was an intensely strong magical weapon, one that he only touched when he had the intent to kill. After a few minutes of stroking it, he pulled himself from his thoughts and reined in his hostility. Now with neither the time nor the place to be thinking such things, and it was with reluctance that he turned his attention to present matters. There would be time enough to imagine stabbing Jin GuangYao later.

Taking his left hand away from his right, he turned to look at Jin Ling still angrily covering his mouth, "HanGuang-Jun wants to punish you, so let him do it just this once. It can't be easy for him to also discipline juniors from other clans." He probably could have toned down the sarcasm, but he couldn't help implying that Lan WangJi needed to act only because Jin GuangYao had failed to instruct Jin Ling properly, leaving others to pick up the slack. Others might not hear it that way, but that was on them. He knew what he meant. Turning again, his words might as well have had thorns as he said, "What are you waiting for? The prey to throw itself on your sword? If today you don't catch the creature hunting Dafan Mountain, don't come to me!" To bail you out of trouble, he left unsaid.

It was right after Jin Ling left that the polite Lan Sect junior spoke, " **Sect Leader Jiang, the GusuLan Sect will return the exact number of deity-binding nets that had been destroyed.** "

" **No need.** " Jiang Cheng said shortly, turning on his heel and starting down the mountain in the opposite direction of Jin Ling. They didn't need to return anything to him because the nets had never been his to begin with, but they probably wouldn't know that. Oh well, it was hardly his problem that Jin GuangYao lost a small fortune in equipment; he was sure he'd told the man it was a bad idea.

No one was around to see him smirk, his mind already composing a suitably gloating-and-apologetic message to the Jin Sect Leader about the fate of his deity-binding nets.

* * *

As luck would have it, while resting at Buddha's Feet and waiting for news, Jiang Cheng wound up nursing a cup of tea in the same place as Lan WangJi.

Jiang Cheng was feeling decidedly awkward. He felt like a daughter-in-law meeting a strict grandmother. Lan WangJi's expression was cool and unreadable, yet Jiang Cheng still felt compelled to try and start a conversation. Why, he had no idea. He could swear it was like talking to Byakuya before he'd started to lighten up. Would it be inappropriate to ask if Lan WangJi had gotten over his crush on Wei Ying yet? He was saved from looking like an idiot by the (un?)timely arrival of one of the disciples from his sect that had been with Jin Ling, which also caught Lan WangJi's attention.

"Sect Leader! Sect Leader!" The boy skidded to a stop in front of Jiang Cheng, panting with exertion and looking terrified.

"What is it? Breathe and speak!" He ordered, watching grimly as the disciple took several large breaths.

"The thing on the mountain! It's horrible! More powerful and cruel than anything we've ever seen! None of our weapons and talismans worked!" The disciple babbled, and before the last syllable fell silent Jiang Cheng was up and running back up the mountain.

His half-finished cup of tea lay forgotten, his heart pounding in fear for Jin Ling. He'd known it couldn't be a regular soul-consuming beast!

Somehow, as fast as he moved, Lan WangJi still managed to beat him there.

* * *

Jiang Cheng rushed into the clearing and called out, " **A-Ling!** "

It was only when he heard the returning call of 'Uncle' and saw Jin Ling standing on his own two feet that his pounding heart began to relax, and without wasting another moment he angrily scolded, " **Didn't you bring signal firelights with you? Don't you know to use them when you meet something like this? What are you pretending to be strong for? Scram over here!** " Fear still pounded in his veins, even if it was beginning to abate, and his scowl was a frightful thing to behold.

Of all the things to get from him, it seemed Jin Ling had copied his sharp tongue, " **Weren't you the one who told me that I have to catch it? And, if I don't catch it, I shouldn't go see you?** "

This brat! He supposed what he said could have been interpreted in such a way, it was true, but his nephew should have known what he meant. He wanted to slap Jin Ling so hard he went back inside his mother's stomach. There was courage and following orders, and then there was just plain stupidity!

Figuratively throwing up his hands in defeat, he could only turn to the other cultivators laying around and ask, "What on Earth could have beaten you all up in such a way?" And no, he wasn't being sarcastic. Several of the cultivators still on the ground were disguised disciples of his own YunmengJiang Sect, ones he was confident in the skills of and who he'd chosen to follow behind Jin Ling in case of emergency. The stuttered answer he received was far from what he was expecting.

He honestly thought he misheard. "What did you say?"

The person replied, " **Wen Ning is back!** "

Shock, anger and disbelief warred within him for control. How? How was this possible? "Wen Ning was ground to dust in front of everyone long ago. How could he come back?" He asked himself, already feeling a well of suspicion rising up inside him. It would be impossible for someone reduced to dust to suddenly appear again, unless they hadn't been turned to dust in the first place. The ones who had reported the destruction of his brother's right-hand man were the Jin Sect. Those  _lying snakes_ , he inwardly snarled, anger gaining a foothold and suffusing his expression.

It seemed the disciple thought he was angry about something else. "It really was Wen Ning! My eyes could not have deceived me!" He suddenly pointed to the side. " **...He was the one who summoned him!** "

It was the dark, made-up youth from before, locked in a stare with Lan WangJi.

There were only so many surprises he could take in one day, he thought distantly, already moving his left hand towards his ring as he whispered, " **...Well, well. So you're back?** " When he let his hand fall, a long whip dangled from it, extremely slender and sizzling like it had just been taken from a sky full of storm clouds. It was the whip's special ability that he aimed to use, not just its attacking strength. If Zidian hit someone who had forcefully seized another's body, their soul and physical form would immediately separate, with no exceptions. If Wei Ying had indeed forcibly taken over someone's body, Jiang Cheng knew his brother would want someone to stop him.

Lashing out with Zidian, only to be blocked by HanGuang-Jun's zither WangJi. Waxing and waning, the night sky glowing with surges of purple light and sometimes as bright as daytime; deafening roars of thunder and waves of the zither's notes collided. The battle continued until suddenly, he sensed the one he was aiming at leaving HanGuang-Jun's area of protection. With a crack of his whip, Zidian lashed out with the semblance of a poisonous dragon and landed squarely in the middle of his target's back!

Jiang Cheng was stunned when the youth only rubbed his back and complained about him beating him up! What the hell? Was this really not Wei Ying? It was true his brother's style of cultivation was growing ever more popular, but what were the chances that this was just some random person who happened to be able to command Wen Ning? Very few, he knew, and he didn't put much faith in coincidence. "What is going on here?" He practically groaned. He was prepared to give another lash, just to be on the safe side, when one of the GusuLan juniors shouted. Well, that rendered him unable to make another move, and he hissed in frustration between his teeth. Still, he wasn't about to leave without getting some questions answered, and so pointed to the youth and demanded, " **Who on Earth are you?** "

His answer came not from the one addressed, but from a meddlesome bystander. That didn't make him feel any better when the man coughed and explained. "Sect Leader Jiang, you might not have paid attention to these things and so didn't know about this. Mo XuanYu was the LanlingJin Sect's... _Ahem_ , he used to be a foreign disciple of the Jin Sect. But, because his spiritual powers were low and he didn't work hard in his studies, and also had  _that_...He harassed a peer and was thrown out of the LanlingJin Sect. I've also heard he lost his marbles? In my opinion, he was probably bitter about being unable to cultivate using the correct method, and so ventured to the wrong path. It might not be...the Yiling Patriarch seizing his body."

Jiang Cheng couldn't stop himself, a feeling of almost morbid curiosity rising within him, "That? What?"

"That...as in  _that_..."

Someone from the side commented, "The  _cut-sleeve_ penchant!"

The Sect Leader's eyebrows twitched. He stared blankly at the youth - now identified as Mo XuanYu - and thought he could see a passing resemblance to Jin GuangYao. Surprisingly, this didn't make him want to stab the younger man more than he already did. There were more comments, but none dared to say them in front of Jiang Cheng, and he knew why. He was thought of as competitive and ill-tempered, and for the most part he encouraged that reputation. Though he was infamous, before Wei Ying became the Yiling Patriarch, he was known as an attractive young man, skilled in the six arts and ranked fourth among all the young masters in the cultivation world. Jiang Cheng himself ranked five, so nearly everyone assumed he was angry at being beaten and thus remained quiet on the subject. Since Wei Ying loved to have tangled ties with pretty girls, troubling many female cultivators with his charms and showing no signs of being attracted to men (poor Lan WangJi, Jiang Cheng thought in rueful amusement), even if he wanted to seize a body, based on personal taste he probably wouldn't have chosen Mo XuanYu.

Someone else muttered, "It's not him no matter how you look at it...the flute was also played horribly...this is definitely a case of blind imitation, hearing how inferior it sounded."

Against his will, Jiang Cheng was rather amused, and ducked his head so the twitching of his lips was not visible.

During the Sunshot Campaign, Wei Ying had stood on the battlefield and played his flute the entire night, controlling his ghost soldiers as if they were a living army. His flute had sounded like it was played by an immortal, the sound that of incomparable beauty, which the notes played by the abandoned son of the Jin Sect...weren't, judging by the comments.

However, whether Mo XuanYu was actually Wei Ying or not didn't matter, he decided, signalling to several disciples with a gesture. They immediately understood his intention, as he had done this before, and moved to approach. There were rumors going around about him, he knew. Stories of how he captured anyone who cultivated like Wei Ying, tortured and killed them out of hatred for his brother, but the disciples of his sect knew the truth. If they weren't utterly reprehensible people, he did indeed take those individuals into Lotus Pier, and they were never seen again as others knew them, but no one seemed to notice that the YunmengJiang sect had an uncommon number of disciples who went around outside wearing veils and played the flute.

Mo XuanYu didn't seem to want to go along with his plan, since the youth hurriedly jumped behind Lan WangJi with the donkey and exclaimed, " _Ah_! What are you going to do to me?"

(That, more than anything, convinced Jiang Cheng that that was definitely Wei Ying in that body. Only he could be so ridiculous.)

Since Lan WangJi seemed to have no intention of moving over, Jiang Cheng asked, " **Second Young Master Lan, are you purposely making it difficult for me?** "

The polite GusuLan junior spoke up then, " **Sect Leader Jiang. The evidence is clear-Mo XuanYu's body was not taken. If so, why should you want to trouble an unimportant person such as him?** "

This young one was skilled with his words, Jiang Cheng noted. He'd have to see if he could shove Jin Ling towards him at some point. Heavens knew the brat needed friends his own age and better knowledge of thinking before he spoke. Still, he had to reply as expected, " **Then, why is Second Young Master Lan going to such great lengths to protect an unimportant person such as him?** "

Out of nowhere, Mo XuanYu (oh, who was he kidding? That was totally Wei Ying) made a few sounds of laughter. Then he spoke, and Jiang Cheng felt an inexplicable sense of dread, " **Sect Leader Jiang, _umm_ , I'll feel very troubled if you keep on bothering me like this.**"

Jiang Cheng's eyebrows twitched. He knew Wei Ying was going to say something that he would want to punch him for. He did his best to mentally brace himself, and was not disappointed.

"Thank you for being so enthusiastic, but your thoughts are quite off. Even if I'm attracted to men, I don't like just anyone, and I especially won't follow after anyone who waves at me. For example, I'm not interested in ones like you."

And thank the Heavens for that! Jiang Cheng shouted in his mind. Struggling to hold back his amusement, he raised one eyebrow and questioned, " **Oh, really? Then, may I ask which type you are interested in?** "

" **Which type? Well, I am very much attracted to people like HanGuang-Jun.** " Wei Ying replied.

Lan WangJi turned around when he heard this, and his face was expressionless. " **Mark your words.** "

Wei Ying, "Hmm?"

Lan WangJi turned back, speaking in a courteous yet resolved way as Jiang Cheng tried not to laugh. " **I will take this person back to the Lan Sect.** "

Wei Ying, " **...** "

And then, " **...Huh?** "

Jiang Cheng barely managed to wait until he was alone, Jin Ling and his disciples thinking he was going to vent his anger on the surrounding trees, before he burst out laughing.

Good for you, Lan WangJi! Good for you!


	3. Malice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Also known as: the chapter where Jiang Cheng is torn between punching or hugging Wei WuXian, and his nephew and disciples just think he wants to kill him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOL, this is basically me trying to see how much I can twist things to show JC's new reasons for doing things while still roughly sticking to canon events. Once again, bold words are dialogue taken from the translation, or close to it.

Two hours. Two _fucking_ hours. That's how long it took Jin Ling to run away when they reached Qinghe. He'd actually been mid-sentence when the boy took off, and it had taken a minute before the action had registered in his mind.

He hadn't even been scolding the brat (he'd gotten that out of the way behind closed doors at Lotus Pier, and left Jin Ling feeling all the sorrier for his disappointment). All he'd done was tell Jin Ling about how he shouldn't act this time, because like hell he was going to let the boy do as he pleased after Dafan Mountain, and the brat went haring off as though a hundred demons were at his heels! His only comfort was that the boy had taken his black-haired spiritual dog with him; unlike his nephew, the animal actually knew when to go get help. It was the most useful gift Jin GuangYao could have given the kid.

As soon as he found that stubborn brat, Jiang Cheng swore, he was going to _beat some sense into his thick skull if it was the last thing he did!_

The disciples that had accompanied him and his nephew to investigate the rumors from Xinglu Ridge (three of whom were wearing face-concealing veils) discreetly shifted away from his furious aura.

Jin Ling better obey the rule about getting back before dark, or he would make his last punishment look like a stroll in the gardens with what he'd do to him. As it was, he and the disciples had already spent the rest of the day searching for the boy, and he was in a foul mood as dusk fell and the shops began closing. Surely Jin Ling wouldn't be so stupid as to go up Xinglu Ridge by himself? He had certainly been taught better than that? The brat wasn't that dumb, right? Oh who was he kidding, his nephew would definitely do that and probably get himself killed breaking into somewhere he shouldn't, Jiang Cheng thought sourly.

(Unknown to him, he was partially right.)

Twilight came and went, stars appearing in the sky above as he and his disciples gathered at the designated meeting point he'd told Jin Ling about. An uneasy silence filled the air around them as the number of people on the streets lessened, the disciples too afraid of drawing Jiang Cheng's ire to speak, and the sect leader too busy plotting punishments for his errant nephew to say anything. Just as Jiang Cheng was about to instruct one of the veiled disciples to summon a spirit to ask about Jin Ling's whereabouts, the brat himself skidded to halt in front of him. Jiang Cheng's eyebrows twitched as he took in the source of his recent anger, noting the dirt on his skin and clothing in addition to his ruined robe. The excuses the brat blurted out about tripping and not finding anything were the last straw. He took a deep breath...and snapped.

"Where have you been?!  **I only said a few things about you, and you disappeared into nowhere. Are you some young mistress? Your temper has been growing worse and worse!** " And he fully blamed Jin GuangYao and the Jin Sect for that. He didn't know what his brother-in-law was playing at, but he was not going to let his sister's son be dragged into it. He didn't know what the Jin Sect Leader could gain from turning their nephew into a spoiled, narrow-minded brat, and he was not about to stand by and find out.

" **I came back with nothing wrong with me, didn't I? Stop nagging!** " Jin Ling flushed and snapped back, then paled and quickly shut his mouth when Jiang Cheng's eyes narrowed dangerously.

His voice deceptively smooth, Jiang Cheng replied, " **Nothing wrong? You look like you just rolled around in a muddy ditch, and you say there's nothing with you! Don't you think it's an embarrassment to be wearing your sect's uniform? Hurry back and change into something else!** Now speak, what did you run into today?"

Jin Ling's face was a mask of impatience as he said, " **I already said that I didn't run into anything. I tripped, and it was a waste of time** \- ow!" He shouted in surprise, Jiang Cheng's fingers twisting the ear they had grabbed onto as he scowled deeply, his nephew complaining, " **Don't tug on me like that! I'm not three-years-old!** "

The older man's eyes narrowed and he spoke harshly, pinching the captive ear for emphasis, "Do you think I can't discipline you any longer? Let me tell you, even if you're thirty, I'd still be able to tug you. Next time, if you dare to run around without telling anyone, the whip awaits you!" Inwardly, he flinched, because the discipline whip wasn't something to be used lightly. He still remembered what he'd done to earn the lash on his own back, and the memory was far from pleasant. But, come down to a choice between death and permanent scars, Jin Ling could just deal with an unfading mark. At least he would learn not to make the same mistake again.

"I went alone exactly because I didn't want anyone to help or discipline me." Jin Ling said sullenly, his head bent at an awkward angle to try and lessen the pressure on his ear. Looking at the brat intently, Jiang Cheng exhaled through his nose, letting some of his anger dissipate now that he had his nephew alive and well, if somewhat worse for wear, in his grasp.

At last he let go of Jin Ling's ear, the boy immediately stepping back out of grabbing range and gently rubbing the abused body part, eyeing his uncle uncertainly. "So, what now? What did you see? And where's the spiritual dog that your uncle gave you?" Jiang Cheng asked, the last tacked on as an afterthought since Jin Ling was very attached to Fairy, as he'd named the dog, and it was rare to see them apart without good reason.

Before Jin Ling could answer, two familiar barks came from an alley, and before Jiang Cheng could blink, an equally familiar man and dog emerged from it. The dog, Fairy (poor dog, Jin Ling seemed to have gotten his naming sense from Jiang Cheng, and for that he apologized), rushed up to Jin Ling and happily brushed the boy with his tail. What held Jiang Cheng's attention, however, was not the reunion of boy and dog, but the youth who had come running out with the animal.

It was Wei Ying.

* * *

It was truly a stroke of fortune; Wei Ying was terrified of dogs, and had been unable to remain hidden upon hearing Fairy bark, which ended up driving Wei Ying out right in front of Jiang Cheng and his disciples.

Both sides stared at each other, before Wei Ying silently turned and ran. Jiang Cheng was quicker. Zidian already in hand, he lessened its power as much as possible before he lashed out, wrapping the whip around one of Wei Ying's lower legs and pulling him to ground with a swift tug. By the time Wei Ying recovered from his unexpected shock, Jiang Cheng was already hauling him up by the back of his collar and taking the Spirit-Locking Bag that his captive was reaching for. Saying nothing, he walked a few steps while keeping a firm hold on Wei Ying, entered the nearest shop, and kicked open the wooden bolt that was already half-latched.

The store owner was getting ready to close up shop for the night. Suddenly seeing a fancy-clothed, dark-faced young man kick open the door and walk in with another in his hand, looking like he was about to disembowel his victim then and there, the man was too terrified to speak. One of the disciples went up and whispered some things in his ear. With some silvers pushed into his hands, he quickly fled to the back of the hall, and never came out again. Without any further orders needed, the Jiang Sect disciples instantly spread out from the inside to the outside, making it so nothing could enter or escape the place.

Jin Ling stood to the side, appearing like he wanted to say something but was too shocked to speak. Good, maybe the boy did have some self-preservation instincts after all. Jiang Cheng glowered at him, " **I'll take care of you later. Stay here!** "

His emotions were roiling inside him, sheer joy at having his brother back warring with rage that Wei Ying had died, the feelings seething just under his skin and itching to be let free. He didn't know what he was feeling, only that there was a lot of it, and he had no patience for any of his nephew's back-talk right now. He didn't know what expression he had on his face right now, whether a positive or negative emotion, but whatever it was caused Jin Ling to remain silent.

* * *

There were so many things Jiang Cheng wanted to do, but first and foremost, he needed confirmation. " **Lend me your dog.** " He ordered, shooting a lightning-sharp glare at the boy when he hesitated. Jin Ling whistled, and Fairy came bounding over. In his hand Wei Ying, already stiff as a board, could only be dragged forward one step at a time.

Jiang Cheng found an empty room and tossed Wei Ying inside, Fairy following him inside before he shut the door behind them. The dog sat by the door, Wei Ying's gaze tightly locked on Fairy as though the dog would pounce at any moment. That more or less answered his question about whether or not this youth truly was his brother, and he had to take a moment to suppress the surge of happiness that welled within him. Walking over to a table, he slowly sat down and began making himself a cup of tea, using the time to gather his thoughts and get his emotions under control. He didn't know if he wanted to hug Wei Ying or punch him, and he wasn't sure if an entire night would be enough time for him to find the answer.

A long moment passed in silence before anger momentarily gained the upper hand in his battle of emotions, and he hurled his still steaming-hot tea onto the ground. It was rather wasteful, he distantly lamented, he hadn't even taken a single sip of it yet. With an effort, he managed to put on a curt smile as he asked, " **...Don't you have anything to say to me?** " Don't you want to explain why you ignored my warnings? Why you wouldn't let me help you? Don't you want to say that you've missed me as much as I missed you? Don't you want to tell me that you're sorry for dying in the first place?

Wei Ying said none of these things, only an honest, " **I don't know what to say to you.** "

Absurdly, Jiang Cheng wanted to laugh, instead whispering, " **You really don't learn, do you?** " Because really, Wei Ying always was too much like him. They both had trouble voicing what they really felt.

" **And you have not made any progress either...** " came the expected retort, as they had had some variation of this conversation countless times. But for Wei Ying to just expect them to fall back into that pattern of friendly banter? No. Jiang Cheng's anger surged, and he gave into the urge to laugh.

"Then let's see which one of us hasn't made any progress." Remaining seat at the table, Jiang Cheng looked at Fairy and gave a commanding shout, one that the dog would know meant 'intimidate'. The animal immediately stood up and began snarling, baring his teeth and howling lowly as he closed in on the cowering Wei Ying. Fairy wasn't really going to attack, as that wasn't the command given, but Wei Ying wouldn't know that. What Jiang Cheng didn't expect was for Wei Ying to call out a name, a rather famous name at that. He had the sudden urge to grin, because maybe Lan WangJi had more of a chance than he thought, if Wei Ying was calling for him while being menaced by a dog. Still, did Wei Ying know he trusted HanGuang-Jun so deeply when he thought he was in danger? There was only one way to find out. " **Whose name did you call?** " Jiang Cheng asked, glancing sideways at his brother.

Unfortunately, Wei Ying was in such distress at the sight of Fairy that he only managed to pull himself together once Jiang Cheng commanded the dog to back down. Jiang Cheng honestly felt a little bad for doing that, but needs must. He would make it up to his brother later.

(In the back of his mind, he was already making wedding plans.)

Rather than answering, Wei Ying turned his face away, though if it was from embarrassment or some other emotion, Jiang Cheng didn't know. On his part, he left his seat and approached Wei Ying, bending down to look at his brother's new face. After a moment's pause, he straightened up and asked, " **Speaking of it, since when have you been so close to Lan WangJi?** " He was rather satisfied by the look of realization that passed across Wei Ying's face as he understood who he had called for. Jiang Cheng smiled as he continued to lead Wei Ying to the correct line of thought, "It really is quite curious how far he went to protect you back on Dafan Mountain." He paused for a moment to let that sink in before nonchalantly 'correcting' himself, "No, it wasn't necessarily you that Lan WangJi was protecting. The GusuLan Sect couldn't have forgotten what you did with that loyal dog of yours. Maybe he's familiar with this new body of yours instead." He made a mental note to apologize for those comments later.

" **Watch your language.** " Wei Ying finally spoke. Jiang Cheng was satisfied - it seemed Lan WangJi's protectiveness was at least somewhat returned.

Jiang Cheng responded, " **I've never cared for such things, don't you remember?** "

" **Oh, right.** " Wei Ying mocked.

It was comfortable argument, one worn smooth by endless repetition like a stone in a river. But Jiang Cheng couldn't allow himself to fall into the easy banter, not yet, not when he still had a rebuke to deliver. He did so with a snort, " **So you think that you're qualified to make me watch my language? Do you still remember? Last time, on Dafan Mountain, did you watch your language when talking to Jin Ling?** " Yes, he was still rather cross about that. Even if Wei Ying hadn't recognized Jin Ling at first, that was no excuse. His brother should know better, even if his memory wasn't the best.

Wei Ying's face stiffened. Jiang Cheng's reprimand had struck home.

"'I suppose that you didn't have a mother to teach you'. You really know how to strike where it hurts." Jiang Cheng reflected, "You're quite the forgetful old man, aren't you? I wonder, do you even remember the things you said and the promises you made? Do you even know how his parents died?" There was a definitely an undercurrent of anger in his voice now, and Jiang Cheng felt ashamed that he had let that old aggravation color his tone. He had his brother back, damn it, they could fix everything else later.

Wei Ying's head lifted, " **I haven't forgotten! It's just that...** " and he trailed off, unable to find the right words to say after that. Poor Wei Ying, he was always at a loss for words at the most important times, Jiang Cheng thought sympathetically.

"It's just what? You can't say it? Don't worry, you can find the words back at Lotus Pier." Jiang Cheng interrupted to spare Wei Ying some frustration.

Before Wei Ying could respond, there came the sound of hurried footsteps, and the door was pounded on loudly. Jin Ling's voice came from outside, "Uncle!"

Jiang Cheng raised his voice, " **Didn't I tell you to stay where you were? Why did you come here?** "

" **Uncle, I have something really important to tell you.** " Jin Ling called back.

"If it was that important, why didn't you decide to speak up while I was scolding you?" Jiang Cheng asked, a suspicion beginning to form in the back of his mind. But no, his nephew knew him better than that, surely?

" **I didn't want to say it exactly because you kept on scolding me! Are you gonna listen or not? If not, I'm just not gonna say it!** " Came Jin Ling's angry reply, and yup, apparently Carp Tower had somehow made Jin Ling forget everything he knew about his mother's brother. He would still play along, because Jin Ling was actually acting to help someone, and that kind of thing should be rewarded.

Jiang Cheng put on a fuming expression and opened the door, "Tell me, then get out!" he said, allowing Jin Ling to step passed him into the room.

" **I really did encounter something troublesome today! I think I might have ran into Wen Ning!** " Jin Ling claimed, and he had to give his nephew points on his acting skills. Time for him to respond in kind.

He pulled on a stormy expression and placed a hand on his sword as he demanded, "When?! Where?!"

Jin Ling told him, " **It was this afternoon. There's a worn-down house about a dozen miles south of here. I went because I heard that something strange had happened there, but who could have guessed that there was a fierce corpse hiding inside.** "

His nephew's words sounded very believable, but Jiang Cheng had once crossed swords with both Gin and Aizen, not to mention Urahara. He knew bullshit when he heard it. Plus, as talented as Jin Ling might be, if Wen Ning had hidden himself there was no way that a junior, however talented, would find him so easily. It was a mark of courage that Jin Ling had the guts to lie right to his face, and so Jiang Cheng pretended that he didn't notice the lie. "Why didn't you say so earlier?" He asked sharply.

"I wasn't certain." Jin Ling defended. "The corpse moved really quickly and ran away as soon as I entered, so I only saw a blurry figure. But I heard the chain noises he made on Dafan Mountain, which was why I suspected that it might have been him. If you didn't scold me like that, I would have told you right after I came back. If he ran away and you can't catch him, it'd be because of your bad temper, not me!"

...Never mind that he was playing along, this kid was so getting punished the minute they returned to Lotus Pier. There was defending yourself, then there was just being snarky, and Jin Ling had just crossed the line. Jin Ling had some nerve, saying that _he_ had a bad temper! This young mistress who ran off at the drop of a hat when being scolded! "I'll deal with you late. Get lost!" He barked, shoving his nephew out of the room and slamming the door in his face. He listened to the brat's soft 'oh' and retreating footsteps for a moment to make sure the boy left before turning around in time to see Wei Ying donning a shocked and dismayed expression. Jiang Cheng deadpanned, because really, how many times had Wei Ying actually been able to fool him with those fake looks? A talented actor, his brother was not.

The lie his nephew had spun was actually pretty clever, he had to admit. It was so-called 'common knowledge' that he hated Wen Ning more than anything, and it was even more well-known that the Yiling Patriarch and Ghost General often appeared together, so it was logical to think that he might already suspect Wen Ning was in the area. The falsehood was smoothly constructed, because with Jin Ling's 'knowledge', how could the boy possibly think he wouldn't be thrown into a rage by the mention of the fierce corpse? Wei Ying's expression would serve to remove the last of his doubt if it were true.

(How could he have grown so distant from his nephew that Jin Ling thought he would behave in such a way? Was it simply that Jin Ling wasn't good at reading him, or was something more going on? He needed to dig deeper into this.)

"You really take him with everywhere, don't you?" Jiang Cheng asked rhetorically, gritting his teeth to keep from smiling and giving away his act. The two had performed the scene seamlessly, and thus had earned their prize.

"He's been dead since a long time ago, and I've died once as well. What else do you want?!" Wei Ying asked.

Well, that pretty much killed any hint of a good mood he had, which made it easy to scowl and point at Wei Ying as he spoke, "So what? Even if he dies a thousand times, it doesn't change what he did! Very well, he didn't perish back then, so I shall destroy him today! I will burn him to ashes and scatter them right in front of your face!" He declared, shamelessly copying how a lot of the villains he'd faced had acted at their most dramatic. What? It was a good tone for a Villainous Monologue. To cap things off, he slammed the door behind him as he left the room, leaving Wei Ying bound with Zidian, walking to the main hall and ordering Jin Ling, "You keep a close eye on him. Don't believe or listen to anything he says! Don't let him make any sound. If he tries to whistle or play his flute, block his mouth first. If that doesn't work, slice off his hand or cut off his tongue!" While purposefully saying these things for Wei Ying to hear, Jiang Cheng had the thought that maybe he was enjoying playing the role of the villain a bit too much.

Jin Ling replied nonchalantly, " **I know. Of course I'll be able to watch him. Uncle, why did you shut yourself inside along with that damn cut-sleeve? What did he do this time?** "

Jiang Cheng answered, "That isn't a question you should ask. Remember to watch him _properly_. If I return to see him gone, I'll break your leg for sure!" He made sure to stress the word 'properly', hoping to direct Jin Ling's thoughts to what he meant by that. After a few more questions about the exact location, he gathered half the disciples to join him in getting some exercise on a wild goose chase.

If that happened to make it easier for Jin Ling to pull off whatever escape plan he had concocted, well, Jiang Cheng always had indulged his nephew.


	4. Interlude 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jiang Cheng's journey home is littered with troubles both big and small. His luck has not improved since getting reincarnated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOL, this chapter was getting a little long, so I decided to divide it up. Since I'm in the middle of moving, the inspiration I've been hit by is slightly inconvenient. :P I actually have a lot of the second part of this interlude done already. Would you guys prefer one really long chapter, or two, more manageable, long ones?

It had been an unpleasant surprise, arriving back at Qinghe to be greeted by sheepish disciples and the news that both Wei Ying and his nephew were gone. Wei Ying he had expected to disappear, but Jin Ling? No, he had not seen that coming, and he likely should have, considering the boy's actions as of late. His brow had started twitching when the same disciple to give him the news also presented him with Zidian and reported that the young master had told him to return it. Said disciple had quickly taken a step back and hid among his fellows after Jiang Cheng had taken the ring, just in case the sect leader had the urge to kill the messenger.

Not an unreasonable precaution, considering how black lines had covered his upper face and his shoulders had begun shaking with rage. His aura had leaked out, forming a dark miasma around him. His terrified disciples had huddled together, watching with wide eyes as his anger surged and gaping when Jiang Cheng had abruptly started cursing. Loudly. And at length. Though he was nearly incoherent with rage, the disciples had learned a great many new swear-words by the time he finally calmed down after one last insult towards the Jin side of his nephew's parentage (the brat certainly didn't get his attitude from YanLi!).

Was Jin Ling  _that_ afraid of punishment that he would run off and pass the Jiang Clan heirloom off to someone else to be returned? How irresponsible! He was sorely tempted to follow through on his favorite threat and break the boy's legs! At least then the brat would have to stay in one place long enough to get properly lectured, which he badly needed to be if this situation was anything to go by. His nephew had likely had some inkling of how Jiang Cheng would react and, wishing to avoid having his legs broken and the scolding that would doubtlessly follow, had run away after helping Wei Ying escape, likely making a break for it before Jiang Cheng had been even halfway to the cabin that Jin Ling had described. With such a head-start, it was doubtful he would have an easy time catching up to the boy, and since the time he had set aside to follow Jin Ling on another night-hunt was swiftly running out, he could only stew in frustration.

It was a good thing they'd all been outside the town at the time, or else Jiang Cheng would have terrified more than just his disciples, and his reputation was bad enough as it was.

Once he had let out some of his frustration, he felt much better. Slowly releasing the tension in his body in a long sigh, he reined in his aura and heard the disciples breathe a sigh of relief behind him. What followed was several minutes of uncomfortable silence before his shoulders slumped. "Well, it's official," Jiang Cheng lamented aloud, staring morosely at the ring in his hand, "My nephew is indeed a young mistress, and I should probably get to work finding a suitable husband for him." Not that he would probably have much luck finding one who could put up with Jin Ling, he thought glumly as he slipped Zidian back onto his finger.

The disciples said nothing, likely afraid to draw his attention after that minor loss of control. Exhaling through his nose and feeling the uncertain stares of the disciples on his back, Jiang Cheng gathered his composure and turned to face them. Other than his slightly ruffled hair, there was no sign of his recent cursing fit as he told the group, "I need to return to Lotus Pier; you, you, and you, stay for a few more days and ask around to see if you can determine which direction Jin Ling went." He pointed to three disciples that he knew had the best tracking, defense, and concealment skills among the disciples with him. If they could figure out where his nephew was headed, he would have time to intervene if the idiot was headed in a particularly dangerous direction. "The rest of you, with me." He instructed, and his disciples obeyed.

As they started the trek back to Lotus Pier, his mind was already turning over various punishments, coming up with several new ones on the spot as he tried to decide which one would be awaiting Jin Ling when the boy returned.

* * *

Barely half a day into the return journey, Jiang Cheng's plans of quickly returning to the sect came crashing down in the form of a small village with a disappearance problem.

Almost from the minute they stepped foot in the town, Jiang Cheng heard the whispers. Rumors of young men and older children vanishing into thin air at night, taken from within locked homes, crowded rooms, and in one case a mother's arms. Even though a watch had been posted and the guard increased, no one was able to see what was behind the disappearances. Between one blink and the next, the victims were gone. A total of twenty-five people had been taken so far, and all the villagers were on edge, wondering if they or their loved ones were going to be next.

The sect leader learned all this in the time it took him to walk from the edge of the town to the center at a normal pace. The disciples looked uncomfortable as he stopped next to the well in the town square and frowned, his brow furrowing as he looked around. The aura of fear and desperation was palpable, like a dark mist hovering in the air and choking those who walk through it. All the disappearances had happened at night from what he heard, but even though it was not even noon with the sun shining, the townsfolk still scurried quickly from one place to the next as they went about their business. They were also, he noted through narrowed eyes, almost all traveling in pairs or groups of three. Most of them were obviously members of the same family or social circle, but there were some random strangers sticking together mixed in.

He carefully observed all of this, taking note of the people's behavior and the atmosphere of the town. Focusing his senses, his frown deepened as he detected the subtle yet unmistakable tinge of malice in the air. It was almost unnoticeable in the midst of the villagers' anxiety, but he hadn't spent so long refining his control for nothing. The traces he found were faint but unmistakable, so spread out that they could have seemed natural (every village had its assholes) were it not for the way they seemed a bit  _too_  normal. Whoever was responsible for the disappearances had tried to hide their presence from passing cultivators, which only made it more obvious that there  _was_  something to find.

What disturbed him the most was the sting in the air, like spring water backed by poison, separate from the pockets of malevolence he was sensing. It reminded him a lot of what he'd felt of Ichimaru's spiritual power when the fox-like man had used bankai. That made him even more suspicious and certain that whatever was going on wasn't natural.

In his heart he had already decided to help even before reaching the center of town, but this confirmed it; he couldn't let this situation go unaddressed. If they did nothing and left, by the time more cultivators came to investigate there might not be a village left to save! From the looks on their faces, his disciples knew it. They too had picked up on the uneasiness hovering about, though they probably weren't aware of the exact cause. Their hands twitched towards their weapons of choice, whether that be a sword or flute as the one standing next to Jiang Cheng spoke, his voice subdued, "Sect Leader?"

"The wicked being responsible for the missing people practically begs to be subdued, so what can I do but oblige?" Jiang Cheng responded. "I will go to the site of the last disappearance and attempt to find a trace of what happened. You three, go ask around and see what other information you can find about the happenings in this village. Meet back here in two hours. Do not get separated. If you see or hear anything suspicious, come inform me immediately. Should you feel that you are in danger, use your Transportation Talisman."

Call him overprotective if you want, but he maintained that giving each of his sect's disciples a Transportation Talisman in case of emergencies was a perfectly reasonable precaution!

Half a dozen disciples had accompanied him and Jin Ling to Qinghe, and three of those six had stayed behind to track Jin Ling, so he made sure the remaining three stuck together. They had decent fighting skills, but they were still only disciples, and it only took one moment of surprise. The disciples nodded in understanding, already planning what shop-keepers and town officials they would have to question as they let out a chorus of, "Yes, Sect Leader," and set off, making sure to stay together as instructed.

Privately, all Jiang Sect disciples thought that Sect Leader Jiang was equally worthy of the reputation of "being wherever the chaos is" as HanGuang-Jun.

* * *

When his disciples turned a corner and went out of sight, Jiang Cheng breathed a silent sigh of relief. They were heading away from the largest concentration of malice and it was broad daylight, so they should be fine for a few hours while they asked questions. He had full confidence in his disciples' training, but that didn't mean he didn't worry. Now then, time to do what he'd said he would.

It didn't take long to find the house with the mourning banner placed above the doorway, and for all that he didn't like barging in on grieving people, he thickened his face and knocked. If it would help keep others from being taken, he was willing to seem like an arrogant jerk. Even just standing outside, he could feel the tendrils of hatred stretching out from inside the home. Fresher than the spots hovering around the town but fading quickly, so he needed to get a trace on it as fast as possible.

The man who opened the door was middle-aged with a strong physique, yet his shoulders were bowed as if they supported a heavy weight, and his eyes were red. "What do you want?" He demanded, voice rough with sorrow.

Jiang Cheng explained in short, concise sentences who he was and why he was there, and though the man's face turned purple with anger, he stepped back and let the sect leader through. Not sparing the man another word beyond a quick 'apologies for intruding', he immediately headed straight for where he felt the strongest concentration of malice. Passing shocked mourners, he walked through several doorways until he entered what seemed to be a young man's bedroom. He heard raised voices in his wake, one of them belonging to the man who had answered the door, but all of his attention was devoted to the swiftly evaporating pool of resentful energy in the middle of the room. Frowning severely, he circled the spot, nearly glaring as he concentrated on picking through the ball of resentment for any clues.

Oddly enough, the conclusion he came to was that whatever had grabbed the victim, it wasn't a spirit. The energy and physical nature of the crime was wrong for that, so it wasn't a ghost. Ghosts tended towards either possession or leaving obvious corpses (though not always with an obvious cause of death); they didn't make people vanish, silently or otherwise. Disregarding the multiple victims, he supposed it was possible for one to possess the body and move it in order to keep it from being discovered. However, if the room was locked tight from the outside like the rumors suggested, how would the spirit have gotten out with no signs of struggle or tampering with the locks? The answer, it couldn't have, as while ghosts could walk through solid objects, the bodies they possessed couldn't, and so the culprit wasn't an angry ghost.

Going by that logic, he also ruled out several types of demons and fairies. If he focused on the question of 'what could make people disappear', the possibilities were rather limited, but if he changed his thinking to 'how did the victims disappear', he found himself with more options. There were multiple ways to make someone seemingly vanish from a locked room that he could think of, but ways that would be known in this time and place? That was trickier. The easiest explanation was that someone had unlocked the door or window, since they were shut from the outside, somehow got the victim to leave the house, then re-locked the opening they created with no one the wiser. Of course, the easiest answer wasn't always the right one, but something told him that he was on the right track, at least in this case.

Exiting the room and making his way back through the house, he paused to bow his head to the family and apologize for disturbing them, then left, accompanied by the sound of angered grumbling and soft weeping. He would feel guilty later - right now, as the day wore on, he increasingly felt as though he was racing against an invisible clock. Finding a faint thread of energy leading off towards the east, he scowled and followed it, acutely aware that he only had one more hour before he had to meet the disciples back at the town square.

* * *

When he met up with his disciples after a fruitless hour of searching, his mood was dark, and it only grew darker when the disciples related what they had learned from their questioning.

The disappearances had begun nearly a month ago, according to the various shop-keepers the young cultivators had spoken to (and who had been more than willing to help, according to his juniors). The first victim, a young man around eighteen, had been taken from a closed room while talking to his parents about proposing marriage to the baker's eldest daughter. They had been in favor of the match, for what that was worth, and by all accounts had looked away for only a minute, then turned back to find their son gone. No sound, no movement, nothing. One moment he was there, the next he wasn't. Baffling as it was, that incident was the first drop that started the storm. After that, someone vanished every night without fail, no matter what precautions were taken. It was more or less the same story every time; the situations, location, and people changed, but the basic facts remained the same.

His disciples still dutifully recited them, no matter how repetitive the words became, listing names, ages, and occupations, as well as the last place the victims visited and the people they talked to before disappearing. At first glance, they seemed to have nothing in common aside from being young and male, but as Jiang Cheng listened, he noticed that nearly half of the victims had visited the same place, a large pond near the village. The pond could be the home of some kind of demon or spirit, and the victims who had passed by it had somehow angered the creature, but still. Why only half (roughly speaking)? If all of the taken people had visited that place, he could have conclusively identified it as a pattern, but since it was just shy of half, he hesitated to declare it as such.

If only part of the victims had done something to draw the ire of some type of pond-dwelling creature, then why were the others taken? And another thing that was bothering him: where were the ghosts? If the victims were killed without warning, surely their spirits would be lost and confused. While some might have moved on, statistically speaking there should be a few hovering around. Instead there was nothing. There were no signs of any ghosts in the village, a fact which prodded incessantly at his mind, because if the ghosts weren't here, then where were they? The implications made him uneasy.

What really caught his attention, however, was the mention one of the juniors made of unusual occurrences just before the first person vanished. Several fruit-sellers and herbalists had spoken of strange markings on trees, disembodied lights in the woods at night, odd movement within shadows only seen from the corner of the eye, things of that nature. It had gotten to the point where the villagers feared going through the forest, which was a problem because all of the unusual sights happened right next to the main road leading to a neighboring village that they often traded with. With the disappearances starting shortly afterwards, Jiang Cheng would be hard-pressed to call it a coincidence. Surely the events were connected somehow. He went over what the disciples had told him again, mentally setting aside the people who had gone to the pond before vanishing in favor of focusing on those who hadn't. What did these people have in common that the others didn't?

One half went to the pond and vanished...so what if the others went to a certain area of the forest before disappearing? Were there perhaps two forces at work here? One based around the pond, and the other in the woods? In that case, the beings responsible might not know about the other, as the pond and the place where the strange events had been sighted were in opposite directions. Unfortunately, even if he was on the right track, he had no way to prove his theory and the day wasn't getting any longer. If he was right, then that meant they were dealing with not one, but two murderous entities who were able to move about unseen and unheard, which made everything much more complicated.

Scowling deeply, Jiang Cheng turned his eyes to the disciple who had mentioned the pond, "What information do you have about the pond? Is there anything strange about it? Any particular bit of lore?" He demanded, the wheels in his mind turning as one possibility after another appeared in his mind.

The disciple startled, not expecting the sect leader to suddenly address him when he seemed so deeply in thought, and he stuttered for a moment before finding his voice, "I-I don't know...I don't think-" He was interrupted by the disciple next to him suddenly piping up.

"There was! Don't you remember, the story that one grandmother told us? About the courtesan with the beautiful singing voice who was killed by a client?" The disciple flushed when he saw his fellows staring at him incredulously, saying defensively, "What? It was a good story!"

"Good story or not, I believe I should hear it." Jiang Cheng said before an argument could break out, and the junior flashed a triumphant look at the other two as he began to speak.

All things considered, it actually  _was_  a good story, if a common one: Many years ago, a woman of unmatched beauty and charm lived in the village. A courtesan, she was known far and wide for her heavenly voice that was said could rival the gods themselves when she sang, and men came from miles around to hear her. A woman of guile and intelligence, from peasants to princes all were desperate to gain her favor, and she took full advantage of it. She was practically showered in gifts and finery wherever she went, and delighted in the power she held over men with her voice. But one night, it all came crashing down. She was entertaining a client on the shores of the pond when it happened. The man, who was obsessed with her beautiful voice, had been driven mad by jealousy when he had heard talk that the courtesan was planning to leave the village and go to the capital. He decided that if he couldn't have her, then no one would, and before the last note had been sung, he drowned her in the pond. Her body was discovered the next day and given a proper burial but her spirit, enraged at her death, refused to rest and instead drew others to join her in death by entrancing them with her song. They vanished into the pond and were never seen again. When all attempts at exorcism failed, the villagers built a shrine to placate her spirit, and from then on her soul troubled no one.

"There actually is a shrine there, I asked just to be sure, so the story might have some truth to it," the story-teller added, and Jiang Cheng nodded in approval. He had trained his disciples well.

"And what of the woods?" He questioned.

His juniors exchanged looks, then shook their heads. There was nothing about them aside from the recent events.

So, he had one place that had a story attached to it and one place that didn't. Jiang Cheng crossed his arms, tapping one finger against his bicep as he thought. Something wasn't adding up. He needed more information, and to get it, he would have to do something he was loathe to under the circumstances. His frown growing heavier, he ordered. "I will go to examine the spot in the woods where the occurrences took place, and I want you three to go to the pond and investigate the shrine. Beware, it is possible that the spirit or whatever it is may have turned into an untitled goddess after being venerated like the statue on Dafan Mountain, so take precautions." Having said so, his gaze met that of the veiled disciple, whose eyes widened before he dipped his chin in understanding.

Jiang Cheng had conflicting feelings about splitting up, but it needed to be done while there was still daylight. He was concerned for his students of course, but also confident in their abilities. Even if the being in the pond did turn out to be an untitled deity, the veiled disciple controlled a fierce corpse more than strong enough to handle something like that and now had permission to call upon it, so they would be fine.

Turning on his heel, he set out towards the part of the forest where the strange lights and oddly-marked trees had been sighted.

He had work to do.

* * *

It didn't take long to find the correct area, and the sun was still high overhead as Jiang Cheng leaned forward to examine the first symbol carved into the trunk of a tree he'd come across. The lines were crude and uneven, but still - most importantly - _recognizable_. The symbol was one commonly found on warding talismans geared towards malicious spirits, but without the others characters it would be useless...unless its purpose _was_ to do nothing at all. The character, though harmless, did possess a frightening look which could easily frighten someone who didn't know of its intended use.

A cursory look revealed that all the other symbols engraved on the trees were the same as the first, as though the carver was too lazy to pick a different one. Whoever was responsible possibly thought the repetition would add to the fear and scare off any who came across the marked trees. A rough but effective plan, he admitted, as the villagers had indeed been avoiding the area.

He paced from one marked tree to the next, forming a mental image of their positions and measuring the space that someone was so determined to keep prying eyes away from. It was a decently-sized chunk of land, one of the trees almost right next to the main road to the neighboring village. There was a slight off-chance that this was some rogue cultivator's idea of a practical joke, but why go through the trouble? Why bother setting up a piece of forest as 'haunted'? Why continue even after the disappearances began? Putting the pieces of the puzzle together, he didn't like the picture that was being formed.

One of the main questions was, why make people afraid to go to a certain place? Because there was something there that someone didn't want to be found, or simply something they didn't want anyone to know about, he answered. And what could be the cause of such secrecy near an out of the way village, which was suffering from multiple disappearances with no visible culprits? Nothing good, that was for sure. This warranted more investigation, particularly an investigation at night, which was when these mysterious sightings had taken place.

The only thing he had to figure out was if he should go meet up with his disciples, or find a good spot to hide and wait to see what would happen. Of course, if he was wrong about the pond or this spot in the forest having anything to do with the disappearances, then someone else would vanish during the night while they were mucking about in the wilderness. Unacceptable, he decided, turning and heading back towards town.

Stopping the kidnappings was more important than assuaging his curiosity, and that meant he needed to reconvene with his juniors and decide on a course of action.

* * *

As it turned out, his disciples had found out something important. This important thing that had his interest up and the wheels in his mind turning was simple yet profound: the shrine that was supposed to be near the pond had been destroyed, and fairly recently at that. It hadn't been a natural occurrence brought on by age and wear causing the shrine to collapse, it had been intentionally damaged, the sword marks left on the remains clearly defined.

This was unwelcome though enlightening news. At least now he had an idea of what could have caused the pond-spirit to become active so suddenly. The destruction of a shrine would certainly be enough to rouse a spirit's anger. Though that still left the mystery in the woods, every bit of progress helped. Perhaps the two events were connected more closely than he had thought? The person who destroyed the shrine could even be the same person who had set up the scene in the woods he had examined. He wasn't certain, but it was a possibility, he noted.

"Did you notice anything unusual aside from the destroyed shrine? Any malicious energies or out of place objects?" He questioned, the disciples all thinking seriously before responding.

"I did feel slightly uneasy when I stood next to the ruins of the shrine, Sect Leader," one of them admitted, frowning in confusion as he thought back to the chilled feeling that he experienced when he'd stood next to the altar to get a better look at the destruction. "It was like there was a gaze full of malice and anger watching me; I could almost swear there was a tangible weight to it." He'd been very glad when they left the site of the shrine to go meet up with the sect leader.

Jiang Cheng nodded thoughtfully. That pretty much confirmed that the spirit in the story or something like it had something to do with the disappearances. Eyeing his disciples, he was pondering over what he should do when another spoke up.

"There are potentially two beings at work here, so it only makes sense to split up to deal with them, since if we stay together to suppress one, the other may take another victim." It was the veiled disciple, and what he said made sense. He continued, "Let us juniors go to the pond, Sect Leader. Our skills should be good enough to handle such a thing, especially now that we can call on aid." Slender fingers reached down and pointedly tapped the flute tucked into his belt, alluding to the fierce corpse he could call.

The sect leader had no choice but to sigh and give his permission, seeing the determination in their eyes. That didn't mean he couldn't give advice, however. "Remember, nothing can thwart pride in one's voice quite like someone being unable to hear it. The story is quite clear on this spirit's methods." He said shortly, hoping that his hint made sense. They were all intelligent, he reassured himself as the three departed back towards the pond after he'd give his approval via nod as the sun sank towards the horizon. They would be _fine_.

His fingers twitched; right, no time for distractions, he had work to do. He set off towards a spot he'd found halfway between the village and the 'haunted' section of woods, thick with trees and shrubbery and the perfect place to set an ambush.

* * *

Night came, and Jiang Cheng was perfectly concealed within his chosen hiding place, relaxed and waiting (because being tense on a stake-out was just asking for cramped muscles at inopportune moments).

His senses were stretched to the max, honed and poised to detect the slightest disturbance in his radius. Even if the culprits concealed themselves, he would still be able to tell their position by looking at where there was nothing to perceive. Any unusual or out of place spirit ribbons, he would grab, and then there would be no escape for the troublemakers. Once he had his prey's scent, there was nowhere they could hide from him, even in the underworld.

Like Renji had once said, when he wanted to find someone, he was 'one hell of a determined bastard'. That much hadn't changed, he thought with a slight smirk, even if he'd punched the pineapple-head for the description. Those were some good times, and he would be lying if he said that thinking about his friends from Soul Society didn't make him feel just a tiny bit nostalgic.

Something flickered at the edge of his senses, drawing him out of his musing and back to full alertness. He concentrated, picking up no less than five spiritual signatures, all of them moving quickly and heading right towards him. They were concealed, but sloppily, like a token effort at something on a checklist. Enough to hide from normal people and cultivators just beginning their training, but not Jiang Cheng. They might as well be screaming their positions. He'd also had ample time to prepare a few surprises along the most direct route from the marked section of forest to the village before he'd settled into his hiding place.

When the first trap went off and a surprised cry bounced through the trees, he had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing as more swiftly followed. It was almost like watching a row of dominoes in motion - one thing led to another, and before his quarry knew what was happening, they were right where he wanted them.

Because of time constraints and the need for information, none of the traps were inherently lethal, but that didn't mean they were harmless.

Of the five troublemakers that had been trying to sneak by, one was suspended from a tree by a snare around his ankle, his robes hanging down and obscuring his vision as he flailed comically. Another was cradling a dislocated shoulder and noticeably limping, and a third was blinking rapidly as the fourth tried to one-handedly tie a strip of cloth around his head to slow the bleeding. Concussion and fractured wrist respectively, Jiang Cheng judged. Apparently neither one had managed to completely dodge that deadfall he'd set up with some fallen branches. Amateurs.

It was the fifth, unscathed person that the sect leader studied closely. The man had enough skill to entirely avoid his traps where his compatriots couldn't, and that was worth acknowledgement, though the tricks had been far from his best work. He hadn't used any talismans or spells to set up any unpleasant surprises, yet still had such favorable results. His potential enemies were weakened, and he knew which of the bunch to keep his eye on.

Not bad for the work of ten minutes, he decided.

Crouching silently on a thick branch above the group, one hand lightly grasping the limb above him for balance, he took a moment to examine the group. They were all cultivators, that much was obvious, but their levels seemed to differ greatly. The snared one seemed to have even less experience than some of his sect's youngest disciples, still blinded by his own robes and thrashing about as he was. Dislocated shoulder was hardly better, but bore the pain admirably, seeming to know to put as little weight on his injured leg as possible while leaning against a tree trunk and trying to see how bad it was.

Mr. Concussion was still blinking and looking dazed, so there was no threat there. Fractured wrist was a woman, he noted, and seemed to have some medical skill if the way she neatly bandaged Concussion's head-wound and then went to assist the one with the shoulder injury was any indication. Good instincts, but low cultivation strength, he judged. The one that caught his interest was the unharmed one, and he correctly judged him to be both the leader of the group and the most dangerous.

All five were wearing identical black robes, plain and unremarkable, perfect for blending into the shadows and sneaking around. If he needed any other proof that these five were up to no good, he got it when the flailing one whined, "Guys! Hurry and get me down from here! You need me to cast the sleep spell, remember?!"

That explained why no one heard anything during the abductions that happened while everyone was sleeping. If they were rendered unable to wake up by a spell, the locks could be undone, allowing the abductors to waltz right in and take someone, and they could re-fasten the locks on the way out to make it seem like no one entered or exited.

"Oh, be quiet!" The woman snapped softly, keeping her voice low as she cut the whining one down, a distinctly unimpressed expression on her face when he landed on his head with a 'thud'. She strode over to the man leaning against the tree, who was now swaying alarmingly despite the support of the trunk behind him.

"Why do we have to do this every other night anyway?" Whiny, as Jiang Cheng had dubbed him, asked, "We already got over a dozen people, what's the boss even need with so many?"

Unwillingly, the woman shuddered, a flash of fear crossing her face for an instant before it faded into professional concern as she knelt to check on the extent of the injury. "I've seen some of the taken ones. They...changed...afterwards. There was something _wrong_ about them." She murmured, Jiang Cheng having to strain his ears to hear. So these were the people responsible for part of the vanishings. Good to know, now maybe they could get somewhere.

"Sumthin' not right 'bout 'em," Mr. Concussion slurred in agreement.

"Silence. Say nothing more." The leader spoke commandingly. His subordinates obeyed.

No, please say more! Jiang Cheng mentally encouraged, though sadly his mental plea went unheard as the medic-woman pulled out some bandages and finished her work in silence, Whiny standing up and rubbing the back of his own head sullenly.

Well, if he wasn't going to get more information by listening in, then he might as well ask his questions directly. Sneakily rearranging a few odds and ends he carried, just in case, he jumped from the branch to the ground, striding forward and demanding, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

He was given the satisfaction of seeing all but the leader jump. The leader, who he could now see had a coldly attractive face and well-muscled physique, returned his question, "Who are you to demand answers from us? A simple villager attempting to prove himself brave?"

Jiang Cheng frowned coldly, stepping into view and relishes the fearful looks that came over the subordinates' faces and the uneasy expression that flashed across the leader's. Sometimes it was a good thing to be so recognizable, and in this instance he took full advantage of it. "I fear introductions will not be needed on my part, so allow me to ask again: _who are you?_ " His voice darkened on the last three words, carrying an unmistakable note of command and letting the five cultivators know that he would have an answer, one way or another.

Four faces went pale with fear (it was a good thing that the one with the dislocated shoulder was already leaning on something, or he would have fallen over with his knees trembling so much), and the fifth became pinched and wary. No one answered, not even Mr. Concussion (who was looking decidedly more lucid and terrified).

"If you do not feel like introductions, how about we have a talk about what you are doing here." It was in no way a suggestion. The five of them all shuddered, even the leader.

Unsurprisingly, none of them were inclined to be cooperative, those able to do so reaching for their weapons. Jiang Cheng smiled, and in the next few moments, all five would have sworn they saw the face of a demon from Hell.

* * *

The battle, if it could even be called that, lasted only eight minutes and was hardly worth attempting to describe with any words aside from 'carnage' and 'brutal'. The only one who had put up much of a fight was the leader, and he had been knocked out five minutes in by an uppercut to the jaw. Of the five, only the healer and Mr. Concussion were still conscious. Dislocated shoulder had fainted from blood loss, and Whiny had actually been killed by one of Jiang Cheng's remaining traps when he'd tripped while running away. The sect leader had been embarrassed for all of them, enemies or no.

Ms. Healer and Mr. Concussion had quickly surrendered after seeing their leader defeated, throwing down their swords and raising their hands in defeat. Dislocated shoulder and knocked-out leader remained unconscious, and so Jiang Cheng had only two people to question. The leader was quickly bound with reinforced rope in case he came around. Permitting the two awake to lower their hands after he removed their weapons and Qiankun bags, storing the bags in his sleeves and the weapons in his own bag for later perusal, he began his interrogation.

His first question was, predictably, "Why were you abducting people from the village?"

Ms. Healer answered, also predictably, "We were hired to."

"By who?" He questioned.

"I don't know." She replied.

The questioning carried on as though they were each reading from a script, and by the time Mr. Concussion (whose name, it turned out, was A-Pang) could speak without tripping over his tongue, Jiang Cheng was rather annoyed. The only thing he'd learned was that the bunch were rogue cultivators, had been hired to perform the kidnappings, had set up the markings on trees to keep people away from their camp, and only the leader had any clue as to who hired them. Oh, and on their way to their selected base, Whiny had destroyed a shrine set up by a pond.

(That explained _that_. He hoped the disciples were okay.)

He'd also put two and two together to figure out the taken people were being used for _something_ , something that changed them. Changed them for the worse. His scowl was pure menace at the thought, and Ms. Healer and A-Pang wisely edged away from the furious sect leader.

As a gesture of goodwill, he popped the one guy's dislocated shoulder back in place and wrapped a tourniquet around the leg injury to keep him from bleeding out. Ms. Healer visibly relaxed when she realized that he seemed to know a lot more about treating flesh-wounds than she did. He looked over his work carefully and announced it would hold until they got to YunmengJiang Sect. That caused some unhappy shifting, until Jiang Cheng pointed out that they were technically his prisoners. They settled with only minimal grumbling.

It was only as he was checking to make sure that the leader hadn't banged his head on the way down that something occurred to him, and he paused with his hands partially buried in the leader's hair. Without moving, he asked casually, "Were any of you ever given anything by your employer?"

Thrown by the sudden question, it took a moment for A-Pang to hesitantly reply, "I think...A-Chin was given something? He was always bragging about it."

Ms. Healer agreed, pointing to Whiny's dead body, "Yes! He kept saying that it meant that after the job was over he would be accepted into a prominent sect!" She scowled at the corpse, a hint of vindictive satisfaction in her expression, one that was echoed by A-Pang. Apparently neither one had liked Whiny. Fair enough; _he_ didn't like Whiny, and he'd only listened to him for a few minutes.

He resumed combing his fingers through the leader's hair, gently probing at the scalp beneath to make sure that there were no dangerous lumps or hidden cuts. There was nothing. He must have just hit the guy that hard. Oh well, he'd wake up eventually, Jiang Cheng mentally shrugged, pulling his hands from surprisingly soft hair and standing up. He strode over to the lone body in the clearing and briskly searched it, pulling out a Spirit-Locking Bag and Qiankun bag, and stowing them away with the others. Whiny's sword was dutifully stowed with the others.

Now that he took a closer look at his prisoners, because that's honestly what they were at this point, he noted that their robes weren't in the best of conditions. The fabric showed clear signs of wear and having been repaired multiple times, threads worn and stretched thin in places, the stitches though neat were easily visible to anyone who took a closer look. Even the leader's clothes had clearly seen better days.

It was obviously that the group had been through some hard times...except for Whiny, his clothes were a slightly finer make and showed decidedly less signs of travel-wear. Crossing his arms, he frowned thoughtfully, "Has your group worked together long?" He asked.

Ms. Healer answered. "Yes. We have accompanied Daozhang on many jobs and night-hunts since soon after we began to cultivate, except for A-Chin," she nodded towards the corpse, "He was some kind of young master from a no-name village and thought he was above everyone else. Went on and on about how he was going to be famous and join a cultivation sect and how we would be answering to him one day. He was only with our group because his sleeping spell made things easier and the employer insisted." Her lips twisted in distaste when discussing Whiny, but the information was helpful. If Whiny hadn't just been blowing hot air, it was possible he had something that he thought would grant him entrance to the employer's sect or a sect that had connections to the employer.

"And what about this job? What were the specifics?" He further inquired, and at his question both cultivators looked guilty, unable to meet his eyes as Ms. Healer answered.

"The employer contacted Daozhang, laid out the whole plan and how we should do it, even told us what village to take people from. I don't know why we had to do it a certain way, but we followed the plan. We noted what people came near the section of forest we marked out, followed them back to their houses, and then slipped into the village that night. A-Chin's spell kept the people asleep, and A-Pang opened the locks. I made sure everything looked the same as it did when we entered, and Daozhang carried the person back to camp. A-Pang relocked the homes, and it was done. Daozhang always went alone to where the person was handed over to someone else the employer hired, so I don't even know where the meeting place was."

Jiang Cheng saw that they knew what they were doing was wrong, but that still didn't change what they did. In any case, it seemed the leader, or 'Daozhang' as they called him, would know more.

After making sure that A-Pang wasn't about to fall over dead anytime soon, Jiang Cheng decided it was time to get going. His disciples were likely already done with the spirit of the shrine, so he would bring along his prisoners and meet up with them at the village center as planned. Ordering Ms. Healer to help A-Pang support their unconscious teammate, he himself picked up the leader, slinging the man over his shoulder like a sack of rice.

Ms. Healer and A-Pang protested the rough treatment, but were silenced by a swift glare.

On that note, they set off.

* * *

His three juniors were already gathered around the well when Jiang Cheng's impromptu group arrived, but their appearance had him raising an eyebrow in surprise.

The storytelling disciple was dripping wet, with his clothes completely soaked in pond water and a water flower caught in his hair he resembled an adorable drowned kitten and the sect leader had to choke back a laugh. The veiled disciple's clothes were wrinkled, his veil was lopsided, and there was a tear in one sleeve, but other than that he seemed fine. The last junior looked rather dazed, but unharmed.

Without prompting, the veiled disciple tugged his clothes back into order and cleared his throat, reporting briskly, "The spirit at the pond has been eliminated, Sect Leader. It was the soul of the courtesan, angry at the destruction of her shrine and desiring human sacrifices to be appeased. She was using her voice to draw the victims who passed by the pond to her. Additionally, we also recovered the bodies of the people she killed from the bottom of the pond. They were drowned. We woke the coffin house keeper to take custody of them and make arrangements for the funerals." Recitation done, he stared with unabashed curiosity at the body on his superior's shoulder and the two strange cultivators lugging a third person between them.

Huh. His disciples had been busy (come to think of it, he should probably start calling them by name at some point). There was only one thing he could say to that. "Good work you three." He nodded at them, feeling proud. "Were there any difficulties?"

All three shook their heads, and the veiled disciple stated, "With a little assistance, everything went smoothly." He lightly tapped a finger against his flute, and Jiang Cheng knew what he meant. He had called his fierce corpse to aid in the suppression of the courtesan's ghost. Message received, he flicked the bell at his waist in acknowledgment. It made no sound, but it was a recognizable gesture. There were several gestures that he taught his disciples so they didn't have to speak to communicate in case they feared they could be overheard, and that was one of them.

(No, he was not unaware that some of the younger ones used the signals to plan pranks. As long as no one was harmed or anything important damaged, let them have their fun.)

"I will need to speak to the lord of the village and explain what was happening, so you three go on ahead and escort these prisoners back to Lotus Pier. When you arrive, stick to the standard procedure for this situation." He instructed. A pause, and then as an afterthought, he added blandly, "Also, make sure none of them die."

The disciples nodded. The two conscious prisoners paled.

He kind of wanted to be there when they realized that the 'standard procedure' was simply making sure they couldn't escape by locking them inside guest-houses inscribed with seals to prevent the use of magic tools and other abilities. The 'slightly-prisoner quarters' as he mentally called them were better accommodations than most inns. Certainly better than the actual dungeon cells. The 'make sure none of them die' part was simply a cue to give treatment to the injured. Alas, duty called.

Jiang Cheng passed the leader to no longer dazed-looking disciple to carry, warning the three juniors, "Don't let your guard down. Bound doesn't necessarily mean helpless. Call for help if you need it."

Ms. Healer and A-Pang were left with supporting their comrade, and judging by the tight grip they had on him, they had no plans for that to change. With a deep bow, the disciples began guiding the captured cultivators along the road out of the village and towards Lotus Pier. The sect leader noted with amusement that the disciple had mimicked him and was carrying the unconscious leader over his shoulder. Boy was stronger than he looked, he thought approvingly as he mentally laughed at the dumbfounded looks on Ms. Healer and A-Pang's faces.

* * *

It didn't take long to wake the lord of the town and explain the situation. Almost before his fist made contact with the wood, the door was opened and he was ushered inside. He shamelessly laid all the blame for the vanishing people at the feet of the courtesan's ghost, roused by the destruction of her shrine, as he confessed that he and his disciples had only been able to recover the bodies of half the people taken.

Jiang Cheng expressed appropriate sympathy when the lady of the family began to cry gratefully, her eldest son having been one of those taken. Now they would be able to give him a proper burial. He lightly patted the back of the ten year-old boy that hugged him in thanks for bringing back his older brother. He kept a gentle smile on his face as the lord thanked him over and over, even as he apologized for not being able to retrieve all the vanished people.

Seeing the family's relieved yet grieving faces pained him, but he kept his discomfort from showing. It was technically the truth; from what Ms. Healer had told him, the people _they_ took likely were dead by now, so there was no need to be giving anyone false hope. He comforted the small child clinging to him, paying no attention to the tears and snot that stained his robe, enduring the torrent of gratitude as the family wept together. Though he demurred, insisting that he had done nothing worthy of thanks, the lord and lady of the family insisted on repaying him for banishing the threat to their village.

Left with no other choice, he managed to bargain them down to allowing him to impose on them for a place to rest for the remainder of the night and a portion of the morning's breakfast. It was barely past midnight, so it seemed a suitable expression of gratitude to the lord and lady. He inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. Cultivators were used to traveling at night, which was why he wasn't worried about leaving his disciples alone to escort the prisoners, so he could have left immediately after delivering the news. But, and this was what got him, the desperate looks in their eyes told him that they wanted to at least feel like they were doing something to help someone who had helped prevent more deaths.

A servant was roused to guide him to a guest room, and he was settled into the bed in short order. Distantly, he wondered how the lord was going to explain what he'd told him to the townspeople. The coffin house keeper would probably help when he went to ask the various families about arrangements for the bodies, but it was still bound to be a shock. It seemed an abrupt ending to a month of terror, but then, wasn't that how all endings were?

Closing his eyes, he fell into a light sleep until dawn, only bothering to strip off his stained outer robe and pull out a new one for later.

* * *

The next day, he was treated to a surprisingly lavish breakfast before departure. He gave his compliments to the cook.

On his way out, he made sure to warn them that though the spirit responsible was gone, there was no guarantee that another would not arrive to take its place. If such a thing happened, he told them, send a message to the YunmengJiang Sect. He waited until the profuse agreements died down, gave an appropriate bow, and headed in the direction of Lotus Pier.

If he hurried, there was a chance he could even catch up to his disciples.


	5. Interlude 1 Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jiang Cheng's troubles are compounded when he's roped into solving a murder, and he really just wants to get home already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so, so sorry it took me so long to finish off this interlude. RL kept throwing punches at me, but with this move I've got going on (to a place with no Internet), I knew I had to push through and get this done for y'all. :) If the ending seems a little rushed, it's because I just couldn't bear to toss anything else at the poor guy after the way this case turned out. *Winces*

Well, that plan didn't last long, he thought grumpily, glaring venomously at the latest in the long line of annoyances that seemed determined to keep him from getting home in a timely manner.

Barely an hour after he'd departed the village, he'd stumbled across at least nine walking corpses that when dispatched released corpse powder into the air, so he'd had to be careful when slaying them. After that was the whipping willow tree (and before you say it's supposed to be 'weeping', it was doing both) on the banks of a lake who lashed out at any lovers seeking to enjoy some privacy. Then the ghost-lights, small glinting motes that enticed the unwary to follow them...right over the edge of a steep gully. _Then_ there was the scorned kitsune attempting to kill the merchant who had cheated her out of a jade necklace, giving her a false one instead.

(That one was actually pretty easy to solve: he gave the real necklace to the fox and delivered a stern warning about cheating demons to the terrified merchant.)

About an hour after that, it was the demon snake terrorizing the local deer population. In theory simple to deal with, the only problem was finding where the thing made its lair, which took an additional two hours. Sadly it dissolved when dead, so his dream of snakeskin boots was beyond his reach for the moment. And then there was the man-eating house. Barely three hours before sunset, he came across a small hut that really had no earthly business being in the middle of nowhere, looking harmless and inviting.

The malicious energy coming from it was so powerful that it might as well have hit him over the head with a sign saying 'murderous demon here!'. He had looked at it with a deadpan, unimpressed expression for nearly five minutes before sighing and going inside to take care of it. He came out an hour later, the hem of his robes scorched because the demon did not want to go quietly, and stoves were dangerous weapons when wielded by sentient houses. The structure collapsed into formless mist when he exited the building, the consciousness holding it together having been destroyed by Jiang Cheng.

More walking corpses greeted him barely a mile away from the demon house's former location, strangely choosing to attack rather than flee, and he was beginning to grow suspicious. He would be the first to admit that he didn't have the best of luck, but this was getting ridiculous. It seemed like he couldn't even take three steps without running into some kind of monster or spirit, and it was broad daylight! What the hell! Did someone curse him while he wasn't looking? After the fifth walking corpse attack (all of which contained corpse powder), he actually stopped and checked. He didn't find anything, but he was still suspicious. It might not be a curse, but something was _definitely_ going on.

After such an eventful day, Jiang Cheng was in a rather sorry state by the time he arrived at a decent-sized village and headed straight for the nearest inn. His clothes were torn and burned, stained along the hems with the original purple color of his outer robe barely visible. One sleeve was hanging by a thread after a strike from the whipping willow while he'd been distracted with protecting the pair of partially-clothed lovers sobbing and fleeing behind him. Those vines had been _sharp_.

He was deeply regretting not carrying more than one change of clothes with him, and he was pretty sure that the innkeeper was taking pity on him when she offered to try and do what she could to mend his robes. He declined, but did request the use of a needle and thread. It took barely ten minutes to sew his sleeve back on, unfortunately the innkeeper's eldest daughter saw him working on it and asked for tips and, well, she reminded him so much of Yuzu that he couldn't refuse.

(Before he left the next morning, he purchased a needle and roll of thread from the innkeeper, because he had the unsettling feeling that he was going to need it.)

* * *

The next day was more of the same, slow going through what felt like an endless parade of night-hunting in the daytime. Only half the monsters he ran into were on the road; the others he encountered when traveling through the towns they were menacing. He was further delayed by grateful villagers insisting he stay for a meal and then the rest of the night if the hour was late enough, even though his appearance was rough to say the least and he constantly frowned. He would always inwardly sigh and agree, and the smiles that bloomed on the people's faces made him feel just a little bit better, so he supposed the small delays weren't _too_ bad.

What was supposed to be an easy, four-day trip was turning into a week-long ordeal. And now, just when he stepped foot into village on the border of Yunmeng, night at his heels, he was treated to the news that there had been a murder in the lord's house.

Jiang Cheng was easily recognizable, even with his robes in less-than-good condition, and you would be hard-pressed to find anyone but the youngest or oldest in Yunmeng who didn't know what he looked like. And so, news of his presence grew wings, and by the time a servant found and dragged him to the lord's manor the whole town knew that Sect Leader Jiang was there. The wave of relief that went up was so blatant it was almost insulting.

So now he was standing in one of the many storage rooms of the lord's estate, glaring down at a cooling corpse like it had insulted his mother. At this rate he'd have to send a messenger to the sect to have a Transportation Talisman delivered, either that or inform them to check for curses because clearly something was out to make his life difficult. That is, more difficult than usual. Maybe he should have just flown on Sandu, that would have probably been easier, but then there would have been a lot more monsters and oddly aggressive corpses left wandering around. He supposed, in hindsight, it was probably for the best that he took the long way. Sighing and letting go of his irritation with a final - mental - curse, he looked around.

The storeroom was large enough for three men to stand around comfortably, lined with shelves yet still spacious enough not to feel crowded. Granted, the corpse in the middle of the room was taking up a decent amount of space, but he had no trouble stepping around the body. Nothing unusual in any of the items on said shelves, no metallic glints in the light of the lamps set in empty spots on the shelves to illuminate the scene. Hell, there weren't even any splinters. The position of the body wasn't especially strange - head pointed towards the interior of the storeroom, sprawled face-down on the floor like he'd simply tripped and failed to get up. No sign of blunt force trauma, nor was there any blood around the body. The victim's lantern was laying on its side a few feet away from the body's left hand.

He sighed tiredly through his nose as he examined the scene, then paused, his brow furrowing when he detected the faint scent of...lilies? That was odd; the victim was undoubtedly a man, and he recognized the smell as that of a perfume that was favored by several of his sect's female disciples for its light, feminine aroma. It was also moderately expensive, so it was doubtful that one of the maids who frequented the storeroom would have been wearing it. The substantial quantity that would have to be worn in order to leave behind a noticeable scent was well beyond the means of a normal servant. Unless it was a gift from a higher-ranked lover? It was a possibility, but one he wasn't sure was relevant to the case at hand.

Jiang Cheng had been assured that the servants had left the body exactly the way it had been found, and since for the moment he was taking their word it, that left him with several questions. The victim was rather high-ranking, so why would he be in the storeroom in the first place? There was no plausible explanation for his presence, except for something scandalous. Likely he was doing something he shouldn't have been...but Jiang Cheng wasn't there to judge, he was there to solve a murder.

In the flickering light of the lanterns, he saw something that caught his attention. Not something on the body, but on the lantern the victim had been holding. The handle looked...slick, was the only word for it. Right where the victim's hand would have been was shining with some kind of oil. A quick check revealed traces of the same substance on the victim's dominant hand. Pulling out a white handkerchief, he swabbed the corpse's hand, making sure not to breathe near it, as he didn't know if the substance was dangerous beyond skin-contact. The strange oil stained the white cloth a pale yellow, and after stowing the handkerchief in his sleeve, he stood up.

Usually when there was an unknown substance on a corpse's skin, it was a poison, and thus treated as the cause of death. In this case, however, he noted an unusual pinprick on the victim's shoulder, so while the murder weapon may have been poison, the stuff on the lantern may not be the _right_ poison. It would hardly be the first time he had encountered two attempts to kill the same person with one being successful, but it _was_ annoying. It was a huge pain in the neck to figure out which murder attempt was actually the cause of death, he scowled.

Moving on, according to the people he'd questioned, the victim's identity was thus: Shen Chang, the victim, was the eldest son of the lord of manor, Shen ShangRen. Shen Chang had three younger sisters, a handful of cousins, and several uncles, all of whom were present in the estate when the murder occurred. Shen ShangRen had called the whole family together to celebrate the engagement of his son to a neighboring village head's youngest daughter, whose family was also in attendance. Though on the surface an auspicious occasion, underneath the veneer of merriment was anything but joyous.

Shen Chang, though blessed with a decent face and stature, was at heart a womanizer. His fondness for beautiful people, particularly those of the female persuasion, was well-known though seldom talked about. An open secret, was the best way to put it. His personality was rather flighty and lecherous, never staying with one woman for long. The minute he grew bored, he would move on to a new lover, showering them with poetry and gifts, the cycle repeating many times. No woman he took a liking to was spared his advances, several maids told him in hushed whispers, he had even taken some women in his household's employ to his bed, then turned them out when the thrill wore off. Rumor had it that around five years ago, one of them had even been sent away for getting pregnant.

None of the staff he asked were working there at the time, so there was no telling if the rumor was true, but one thing that all the stories agreed on was that what intoxicated Shen Chang was the chase. Once the prey was caught, he lost interest, and that meant there was no shortage of people who would wish him dead. Jilted lovers, enraged relatives (either a woman's or his own), staff fearing for their livelihood, a woman afraid he wouldn't take no for an answer, even the disgraced maid or her child from the rumor, the list goes on and on.

Most of the stories about what transpired from the time the bride and her family arrived to when the groom-to-be was found dead more or less agreed with each other. The lady of the house was with her attendants getting ready, the lord was greeting the father of the bride, Shen Chang's sisters insisted that they were showing their brother's future mother-in-law around the garden, and the mother-in-law confirmed it. Two of his uncles were supervising some servants hanging streamers, and the third said that he was alone in the family shrine praying for his nephew to have a happy marriage. On the surface, the uncle who said he was alone was the most suspicious, but several witnesses said that they saw him go into the shrine and not come out for almost an hour. Since there was only one way in or out, while it didn't rule him out completely, his alibi did move him a bit lower on the list. As for the bride and the rest of her family and entourage, that's when things got tricky, as all those questioned freely admitted that there were brief periods when no one saw any of them. Small openings, but openings nonetheless.

The groom had been nowhere to be found for several hours until one of the servants sent to retrieve something from the pantry found his body and screamed. That was barely an hour before Jiang Cheng had entered the town and promptly been dragged to the scene of the crime. It showed no signs of tampering, and everyone who had been on the estate at the time was still there. That was likely the window of time in which the crime had been committed; the storeroom wasn't especially cold, so the scene hadn't been picked in order to obscure the time of death. Frowning, he turned to leave the crime scene, informing the hovering servants that they could remove the body but to not touch anything else, warning them especially of touching the lantern. He did not disclose his discovery of the poison, but he didn't need to. They rushed to begin moving the body as he left, staying well away from the lantern as instructed.

He had gotten all the information there was to get from the scene, so now it was time to talk to the suspects.

* * *

"I can hardly believe this! Murdered, on the eve of his engagement!" Shen Chang's mother, Shen YiRan, sobbed.

Her husband sat next to her, looking both sorrowful over his son's death and embarrassed by his wife's dramatics. Shen ShangRen's face was admirably stoic, maintaining his composure even as his eyes were dark with sadness. It was easy to see where Shen Chang had inherited his looks - from what Jiang Cheng could see, he had been almost a carbon-copy of his father.

They were all seated in a small receiving room, the room empty save for the low table between them and the plush cushions they say upon, the lord and lady on one side and Jiang Cheng on the other. The cultivator was attempting to channel Byakuya, projecting an aura of stern nobility and control despite his travel-stained robes, and thought he did rather well. He managed to keep his expression cool and his posture straight, so he was counting that as a win as he waited for a lull in the lady's weeping before speaking, "My condolences for your loss." In an ideal world, he would have questioned them separately, but considering the time period, he considered himself lucky that it was just the three of them in the room. "Tell me, did either of you notice anyone acting strangely within the last few days? Perhaps someone not happy with the engagement?"

Shen ShangRen frowned in thought. "Not that I know of. The marriage would have done nothing but good for the family."

Which didn't necessarily mean everyone was happy about it, though the lord and lady seemed to think it did. Setting that aside, he requested, "Please tell me the events of the day as well as you remember them. The tiniest detail could be a valuable clue."

The pair did so, occasionally filling in something the other forgot from the times they were in the same room, which wasn't often. Shen YiRan had spent almost the entire day in the company of her maids preparing for the celebration and going over any last minute adjustments that might have been needed. Her alibi was solid, as it would be easy to check with the maids in question. From what he could determine, the lady hadn't seen her son at all that day. Shen ShangRen was slightly more informative in that he had briefly spoken to the victim that morning. According to him, the conversation hadn't been anything unusual, simply a father wishing his son success and happiness in his upcoming wedding.

Nothing strange about that, and the daily minutiae of planning an engagement celebration that the pair described contained no further clues.

"Thank you for your time," Jiang Cheng said regally, exchanging nods with the couple but staying seated as they left the room to make room for the next to be questioned.

* * *

The interviews with the uncles went by quickly, giving him no additional clues but refreshing his knowledge of their alibis. The uncles who had been supervising the decorating were more or less removed from his suspect list (privately, he was certain that one of them was in love with one of the servants who'd been hanging streamers), and the uncle who'd been the shrine was knocked even further down it. He wasn't ruling that one out entirely, but the fact that the man could barely stop crying long enough to speak made it unlikely that he was the culprit. The three sisters re-confirmed their story, adding the tidbit that they'd seen their brother walking by one of the windows when they had been outside planning the tour, so he was still alive at the time. He had even called out a greeting to them, they added, and his voice had not been raspy or muffled or anything. It had definitely been him.

Shen Chang's cousins verified that. They had all seen the victim alive and well a short time after the sisters had - the eldest cousin exchanged several words with him in a hallway, the second eldest as they passed each other in a doorway, but it was the youngest and female cousin who reported a slightly unnerving encounter. She had met with the victim as she was walking down a hall and he was exiting what she confirmed to be Shen ShangRen's study. The victim had been attempting to move in a stealthy and furtive manner, and likely would have gone unseen if she hadn't been walking straight towards him. She had called out, noticing nothing odd at the time and wishing to offer her congratulations, when her cousin had startled and turned on her, eyes wild. He had composed himself quickly, but that movement, the reaction of someone getting caught doing something they shouldn't, had stuck with her. Though her cousin had extracted a promise that she wouldn't tell anyone where she had seen him, considering the circumstances she was sure that her cousin would forgive her for telling the Jiang Sect Leader.

(Jiang Cheng had resisted the urge to smile at the conspiratorial twinkle in the girl's eyes, instead keeping a grave face and nodding in an appropriately solemn manner as she finished her retelling of the strange meeting.)

The interviews of the victim's close family took several hours, and he was forced to take a break before it the almost-bride's and her family's turn in order to stretch his legs, which had long since gone numb. He also took the time to go get a small drink of water to moisten his throat before returning to the unofficial interrogation room. The next ones to be questioned were the fiancee's mother and father, Li Yingying and Li Shin, something that went by quickly since he'd already been given their alibis, so they were mostly repeating them and speaking of their feelings regarding the marriage. Their opinions seemed divided on that topic, not so surprisingly when the fiancee's mother mentioned hearing  _rumors_ about Shen Chang's conduct.

Li Shin, the fiancee's father, was adamant that talk was merely talk, and the match would have done only good for both the families. Li Yingying insisted that there was truth in every rumor, the husband and wife pair sending unhappy looks at each other. Once Li Yingying finished her recounting of her tour of the gardens, Jiang Cheng politely dismissed the two of them, inwardly sighing as they left. It was tedious work, mentally taking note of each alibi and any details that seemed out of place, but it was necessary, and his efforts were rewarded when the questioning of the servants yielded fruitful results.

* * *

"I saw Young Master Shen during the morning hours just after dawn," A young maid told him, "I remember because it was much earlier than the Young Master usually wakes up; to the Master's chagrin, he is - or  _was_ a late riser," she corrected herself. A few more questions confirmed his suspicions that the maid saw the victim just a short time after the cousin had. Moreover, she saw him just a few halls over from the study he had stealthily gone into moments before. He was beginning to think the innocent victim might not have been so innocent after all.

Speaking with the visiting seamstress hired to create the engaged couple's wedding clothes and her attendants all but confirmed that suspicion. Insults, shouting, thrown objects, it sounded like Shen Chang was not happy about his pending nuptials. "The Young Master was absolutely terrible to work with!" The seamstress sniffed in disdain, "I am used to difficult clients, pickiness is nothing unusual, but the young man would not be satisfied! Always demanded some minor detail or another be changed! Why, one would think that he did not want to be married at all!"

And that got him thinking, could Shen Chang have been attempting to sabotage his own wedding? If he was married, doubtless his actions would be under much closer scrutiny, which would make it difficult for him to engage in ungentlemanly behavior without losing face. The consequences of being unfaithful could potentially be very severe, depending on the views his parents or in-laws had of the matter. Having spoken to Shen ShangRen and Shen YiRan, the sect leader could imagine their reactions to learning their son was less than loyal to his wife.

* * *

It was when he spoke to the fiancee that everything fell into place. The moment she arrived, accompanied by an attendant, his gaze sharpened as his nose twitched, because he _knew_ that scent wafting by his nose. It was the scent of lilies!

Both women were wearing a sizable amount of the perfume, the smell hovering around them like a shroud as they seated themselves, the scent hanging in the air and taunting his nose like a fox's scent would a wolf. Finally there was a lead! The pair before him held part of the key to figuring out what happened, and now he just had to find it. In the back of his mind, he bared his teeth in savage glee. The hunt was on. Putting on a calm face, he dipped his head, starting off easy by introducing himself and offering his condolences for her loss.

Li LanSui nodded back, seating herself properly and folding her hands in her lap. Her voice was soft and delicate as flower petals when she replied, "I thank you, Sect Leader Jiang. It is my hope that this terrible matter will be solved swiftly and the one responsible for the crime brought to justice." Her cupid's bow lips quivered, an involuntary expression of grief...or at least she would have him think so. He likely wouldn't have thought much of it, were it not for the reflection of dry eyes and relief he glimpsed in her tea. So the grieving widow-to-be wasn't all that grieving, he noted.

Jiang Cheng kept things simple, asking the same questions of Li LanSui and her attendant that he'd asked the others because he was sure that her parents at least had told her what to expect. Since he couldn't keep any of the suspects from talking to each other before or after being questioned, he had to stick to the script, staying calm and polite as he listened to her answers. The attendant said nothing unless he directly spoke to her, hands folded demurely in her lap, but the whiteness of her knuckles told him that she knew  _something_ , he just needed to find out what. There were several inconsistencies in Li LanSui's story that he would need to look into, and after the interview was over, he escorted the two women back to the others.

Casually mentioning that he would need to conduct a search of their belongings 'just to be safe' garnered some grumbles, but his rank and reputation earned him reluctant agreement. Li LanSui and her attendant paled at the mention of a search. The murderers couldn't keep the weapon on their person lest it fall out or otherwise give them away, and because they hadn't had time to throw the murder weapon away, it stood to reason that the thing used to kill Shen Chang would still be among their belongings, he explained. It was a bit underhanded, he thought, but this way if anyone refused to have their luggage searched suspicion would immediately fall on them, so everyone was _very_ accommodating about having their personal bags rifled through.

The search went smoothly, and he found what he was looking for in Li LanSui's rooms. She and her attendant were sharing the space; as both their bags were there, it would have made a good alibi for the lady if poison was found in her bag alone. She could just accuse her maid of planting it in her luggage and get away with her crime, and if the poison was found in her maid's bags it basically amounted to the same thing. She could just plead ignorance of why her attendant would kill her fiance and play the grieving bride-to-be until the situation was resolved. However, he doubted Li LanSui had a plan for what to do when he came back to the room where everyone was gathered and announced that the murder weapon had been found in both her and her maid's luggage.

Amid the gasps of shock, he held out a hand to reveal the jars within it. Identical and nondescript, each was small enough that he could hold both in the palm of one hand. They had blended in with the make-up containers in both bags and almost gone unnoticed, but a quick test had revealed them to contain the same toxin that he'd wiped off the handle of the victim's lantern.

"Li LanSui! Li LanSui! Why would you do this?!" Li Yingying cried, face pale with shock, and Li Shin looked no better, ill at ease with this turn of events.

The Shen family let out cried of outrage, shouting demands for an explanation, and before the room could degenerate into a free-for-all, Jiang Cheng stowed the jars in his sleeve and clapped his hands, a touch of spiritual power making the sound as loud as a roll of thunder. The room silenced and everyone's attention turning to him, the sect leader smiled politely as he said, "If no one has any objections, I will lay out the facts of this case and what I believe to be the sequence of events that resulted in this crime," his eyes sliding over to Li LanSui and her maid, he added an aside, "Do speak up if I get anything wrong." Taking a breath, he launched into his story. "As I know it, the events leading up to Shen Chang's death are thus: Several days ago, the Li family arrived to finalize the engagement of their daughter, Li LanSui, with the only son of the Shen family, Shen Chang. Shen Chang, a known appreciator of pretty things, was unhappy with this, for although it would bring prosperity to his family, if he was married he would have to give up his pursuits of whomever caught his eye. Enjoying his current lifestyle and not wishing to be tied to a single woman, he came up with a plan. He would take the marriage contract, perhaps to destroy, perhaps to simply hide it. Either way, with no contract, he could refuse the marriage. That was why he was seen coming out of his father's study early in the morning, far earlier than he usually awakened. He thought that such an important document would surely be kept in a safe place, but in the end he couldn't find it, and so left in anger, which is when he met his lady cousin."

The cousin who had told him about seeing the victim coming out of his father's study gasped.

"That was likely when Li LanSui's maid approached him, enticing him without seeming to realize she was doing so, the perfect way to attract his interest. His mind in turmoil over his upcoming marriage, the victim looked no further than a pretty face inviting him to tangle ties with her before such a thing was forever denied to him. They arranged a meeting; the maid promising to meet him in the storeroom. Unbeknownst to Shen Chang, the lantern she handed him had the handle smeared with poison, a poison that would be absorbed through the skin. However, the maid had no way of knowing her mistress had concocted the same plan, more or less. It was a simple matter for Shen Chang's fiancee-to-be to get close enough to poke a needle dipped in poison into his shoulder and then withdraw it with him never noticing a thing. This poison is the kind that takes time to act, whether applied to the skin or directly injected, and so Shen Chang lived long enough to get to the storeroom where he met his end."

Jiang Cheng paused, realizing this kind of convoluted scheme seemed rather familiar, then put that aside for the moment in favor of concluding, "I have revealed to you the 'how' and the 'who' of this case, which leaves only the matter of 'why'. Why did both of these women resort to murder? Lady Li LanSui's motive, I believe, is relatively simple: she did not wish to marry a womanizer, and insecurity over whether she alone would be enough to cause Shen Chang to change."

Li LanSui bowed her head, acknowledging the truth of Jiang Cheng's words.

"For the maid, I believe your motive has something to do with the rumor of the maid who was sent away in disgrace after becoming pregnant?" He asked, and the maid nodded, tears in her eyes.

"Yes. The woman in that rumor is- _was_ my sister. She served this house loyally for years, and how is she repaid? By being cast out the moment she truly needed support by the family she served!" The maid raged, glaring hatefully at the Shen family and causing them to recoil, her previously docile demeanor vanishing like mist before the sun.

"I also assume that her child was Shen Chang's?" He asked rhetorically.

The wrathful maid nodded, crying out, "Of course it was! My sister was a kind, gentle woman wanting nothing more than a good man to marry her, and instead she attracted the attention of that wastrel Shen Chang! Under threat of being dismissed my sister went to him time after time, but when the inevitable happened, she was still thrown away, that worthless man's parents believing him when he claimed the child was not his, no matter how she protested!" Shen ShangRen and Shen YiRan paled. "Even though I invited her to live with my husband and I, her health became worse and worse, until she finally perished in childbirth, leaving her son an orphan!" She hissed, an evil sound that caused all those near her to take a step back. At that moment, the maid seemed more like a vengeful demon than a human woman, but then, wasn't that to be expected? From the passion and grief in her voice as she indirectly described the moment she'd decided to kill Shen Chang, she and her sister had been close.

Jiang Cheng was appropriately solemn as he turned to Shen ShangRen and Shen YiRan, "As the poison was administered twice within a short period, it is hard to say which application truly resulted in your son's death. My apologies for my failure." He dipped his head slightly in contriteness.

"No, no it is we who should be apologizing for troubling Sect Leader Jiang." Shen ShangRen replied, "It seems we have shown you quite a disgraceful display, and for that I extend my most sincere regrets."

"Indeed," Shen YiRan spoke, "If Sect Leader Jiang is unable to determine who truly killed our son, then we can only entrust the matter to the judgment of the gods." The rest of the gathered Shen family murmured in agreement, for what else would be just? If they executed the maid and it turned out it was truly Li LanSui, they would surely be punished, with the same true in reverse. The only thing they could do was leave the matter in the hands of the deities.

Things moved quickly after that, the Li family bidding a hasty farewell and departing, taking their murderess of a daughter with them, her former maid leaving separately. Jiang Cheng left soon after, more than eager to return to his sect and be rid of the horrid taste this case had left in his mouth. To hell with everything else, he was getting on Sandu and not stopping until he reached Lotus Pier.

* * *

When he finally staggered through the gates of his sect, he was greeted by one of the disciples that he'd sent after Jin Ling with the news that: "Sect Leader! The Young Master has joined up with a group of Lan Sect disciples and gone to Yi City!"

Silence.

Jiang Cheng's roar could be heard throughout the sect.

" _That **idiot**_!"

(The Jiang Sect disciples didn't know who they felt sorrier for, the Sect Leader or his errant nephew.

"Sect Leader has many troubles," one veiled disciple commented.

The others murmured in agreement.)


	6. Grasses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pieces start to fall into place, and Jiang Cheng doesn't like the picture they're making.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Thanksgiving! So quick question: Would any of you guys be interested in my covering the flashback chapters in this story? No guarantees, but if enough people vote yes I might give one or two a go. :)

On the heels of the headache caused by learning where his reckless nephew had gone, Jiang Cheng could only groan and stagger off to his quarters, waving off the various concerned sect-members. He'd heard disturbing rumors about Yi City for several years now, coming not just from cultivators but also no few wandering spirits. The name of the infamous delinquent Xue Yang was mentioned frequently, mutterings of how the Jin Sect had failed to kill the scoundrel and rumblings of the Stygian Tiger Seal reaching his ears many times, from many different sources. Even if he left immediately and flew as fast as possible, it was far too late for him to have any hope of reaching Jin Ling before he encountered trouble. He could only hope that his chaos-attracting brother would once again be in the thick of things in time to help out their nephew.

Because he had been night-hunting, in the loosest definition of the term, non-stop for almost a week, he was exhausted and in dire need of rest. He was practically asleep on his feet and would be of little help to anyone for at least a day, but he knew that if he passed out now he would regret it later. He managed to stay awake long enough to take a hot bath, eat a full meal, and change into some proper nightclothes before falling into bed. He was unconscious before his head hit the pillow.

He slept through the day and following night, waking up at sunrise the next day, feeling refreshed and much more able to face the latest problems plaguing him. His disciples had had the good sense not to disturb him, and he was able to get dressed and enjoy a leisurely breakfast in peace. Said peace lasted long enough for him to set his chopsticks down before one of the disciples approached him, reporting the events that had taken place in his absence without being prompted. Nothing of note had happened, and the disciples he had sent ahead with the prisoners had arrived without incident, he was pleased to learn. The prisoners were now fully recovered and settled within the sealed guest-houses as he'd ordered after passing them off to the disciples, pacing fretfully and wringing their hands as they waited for Jiang Cheng to return, the disciple reported, voice amused as he related the details of their 'guests' nervousness.

What caught his attention was the part where the disciple mentioned that the leader of the prisoners, the one they addressed as 'Daozhang', had woken up and been none too happy upon seeing the restrictive seals built into his temporary abode. Several disciples had more than once walked in to deliver his meals only to find him attempting to tamper with the seals. He'd failed, but the disciple reported that the man got closer and closer to actually affecting the seals with each try. A lot of them, the disciple confessed, slightly abashed, regarded the whole thing as an amusing game and continually repaired and modified the seals with dead-end strokes and false starts to make it harder for the man to try anything but otherwise left him to his own devices.

Jiang Cheng thought about scolding the disciples in question, but why bother? It sounded like the disciples responsible for the seals were having fun getting some practice in and furthering their skills, so what was the harm? Shrugging, he gestured for the disciple to continue, which the clearly relieved boy did. Evidently he was one of the ones who'd been thinking the man's tries at escaping a grand joke. He made a mental note to come up with a lesson about taking even things they found funny seriously, just to keep the disciples on their toes.

All the prisoners' possessions had been confiscated and simple clothing and food provided, as the sect leader had ordered. The four were kept apart and not given any information about the condition of the others, and their injuries had all healed without trouble. JiaoLi, the one he'd been calling Ms. Healer, and A-Pang had recovered the fastest. Their comrade with the leg wound, whose name turned out to be A-Lin, had taken slightly longer to heal, fading in and out of consciousness for several days after being treated before regaining lucidity. When questioned by the disciple who tended to him, his story matched with what JiaoLi and A-Pang had told Jiang Cheng back in the forest. His recovery progressed rapidly once he woke up and could ingest solid food, and the disciple in charge of his treatment was confident that he would suffer no lasting effects from his leg injury.

"There is one thing, sect leader," the disciple said hesitantly, shifting nervously, "when the prisoners' possessions were being sorted, something...unusual...was found inside one of the Qiankun pouches, the pouch that belonged to the kidnapper who died." Withdrawing an object from his sleeve, the disciple bowed and presented it to the sect leader. Jiang Cheng's eyes narrowed the moment they landed on the sect sigil being held out to him, scowling fiercely as he took it from the disciple and carefully examined it. This must be the thing his prisoners' had mentioned their dead compatriot bragging about. It was real, he judged, the kind of token that could only be bestowed by someone of high standing within the sect, and the implications of that set his teeth on edge.

The sigil was that of the LanlingJin Sect.

* * *

After that unpleasant surprise, Jiang Cheng figured his peaceful morning had pretty much ended, and he was mildly regretful that it hadn't lasted longer. Oh well, nothing he could do about it now, so he'd best make the most of things.

Sending the disciple off to have several items prepared for later, the sect leader slipped the sigil into his sleeve and headed to where confiscated items were stored. It was more or less a storeroom, except placed away from the kitchens and guest quarters and equipped with plenty of shelf space. The disciples in charge of keeping it organized leaned more towards the scholarly pursuits than the arts of battle, hence why he had given them a task that would play to their strengths as they worked to combat their weaknesses. The disciple on duty, a thin and fair-faced youth, jumped to his feet when Jiang Cheng arrived, more than happy to escort the sect leader to where the prisoners personal effects were stored. Not that they would have been hard to find otherwise - the YunmengJiang Sect didn't have so many prisoners at peace-time that the shelves were cluttered, but the disciple also provided him with an inventory list, which was appreciated.

Comparing the contents of the shelf with the inventory listed, everything seemed to be in order. All the supplies were what you'd expect a cultivator to carry with them, if of lower quality than the items his own sect used. The physical evidence matched up with the prisoners' story, which was a mark in their favor. He tapped a finger against the list, allowing a thoughtful expression to cross his face now that he was alone, the disciple having returned to his post. A scowl darker than his usual look formed on his lips, and he stared without seeing at the swords leaning against the wall beneath the shelves holding their owners' belongings. Thoughts of evidence and rumors and coincidences crossed and merged in his mind, and he didn't like the picture they formed.

Something was going on in the Jin Sect, something bad, and his nephew was getting caught up in it. And that, he thought, was something that he would _not_  allow to go unchallenged.

* * *

After he left the storeroom and returned the inventory list to the disciple, who he vaguely remembered was called Xiao Bai, he set off towards the slightly-prisoner quarters. Halfway there, he was stopped by the disciple from that morning and presented with a cloth-wrapped bundle. Accepting the bundle, he peered inside to check on the contents. Deeming them acceptable, he was impressed; he'd thought the errand he'd sent the disciple on would have taken longer. The timing of the bundle's arrival was perfect, and he thanked and dismissed the disciple before continuing on his way.

Jiang Cheng entered the guest-house that held the prisoners' Daozhang just in time to see the man pry loose one of the baseboards to get at the seal inscribed behind it. Caught mid-motion, the two men simply stared at one another. Jiang Cheng could easily read the flash of panic in his eyes, though the man's face was otherwise calm. It was obvious that the man had expected another disciple, not the sect leader himself. As he had in the forest, Jiang Cheng noted that the leader of the prisoners wasn't an unattractive man. A recent bath made a lot of difference compared to how he had appeared after their brief scuffle. He had been given a set of clean and simple robes to replace the threadbare ones he had been wearing during his capture, and the change in attire did favorable things to his appearance. With his hair pushed back, the man's face was revealed to be masculine and coldly attractive, and his physique was nothing to be ashamed of, even crouched down as he was.

Piece of wood dangling from his fingers, the expression on the man's face was complex. He had been caught doing something he shouldn't be, yet there was no explosion of anger or retaliation like he would have expected from one with the Sandu-shengshou's reputation. Slowly setting down the baseboard and standing up, he watched the other man warily. He well remembered their previous encounter and how he was shamefully knocked out within minutes of the fight, if it would even be called that, the YunmengJiang Sect Leader not even needing to draw his sword to defeat him. The shame burned, as did the knowledge that if he'd fallen, the ones who followed him had never stood a chance.

On his part, Jiang Cheng had to restrain his urge to laugh at the way the man was acting like a skittish doe. Unfortunately, he remembered the reason he'd come to see the man in the first place, and it was no laughing matter.

"Come, let us sit," Jiang Cheng beckoned, the scowl on his face giving the words the air of an order as he indicated the low table surrounded by cushions in the dining room. "I believe we have _much_ to talk about." He _fully_ intended those words to be as ominous as they sounded.

The other cultivator quickly sat, Jiang Cheng following at a more sedate pace.

He didn't give the silence about them a chance to turn awkward, instead getting right to the point. "Tell me who you are, everything you know about the one who hired you to abduct people and where the transaction took place." It wasn't a request, and Jiang Cheng didn't patronize the other man by pretending it was. The other cultivator seemed to appreciate the courtesy, bowing his head in acceptance.

"I am Lin YangHei," He began, only to be interrupted.

"Called Daozhang by your followers," Jiang cheng noted.

Lin YangHei grimaced, "Yes. I have told them that there's no need, but they insist on the title." Clearing his throat, he continued, "I lead them on night-hunts and help them on the path of cultivation, as much as I am able. JiaoLi, A-Pang, and A-Lin having only just begun to form their Golden Cores, and I am the most experienced, as such it was my choice to accept the job of abducting the villagers. I knew it was wrong even as we acted, but that doesn't change the fact that we did. Funds were low, and the others have not yet begun to practice inedia, so food was scarce." He explained, knowing that it didn't excuse their actions but wanting to provide the reasons for them all the same.

What followed was a tale of a man garbed in black, his face obscured by shadows, appearing out of the corner of the eye and whispering tempting offers during the lean times, offers of payment enough to buy months worth of supplies and food. Lin YangHei saw the man no less than twenty times before he finally gave in, one night wandering out of view of the other three so that this mysterious man could come closer. The task the mysterious man wanted completed was not difficult, at least physically. The thought of harming innocent people disgusted Lin YangHei, and he thought seriously of refusing, but his companions were so _hungry_...In the end, he accepted the job, and the darkness-clad man had told him which village to target and where to deliver the 'items', even adding that he was sending another to join their group to make things easier.

("Sorry about that," Jiang Cheng said as an aside.

Lin YangHei shrugged, "He wasn't one of mine."

And that was that.)

Lin YangHei provided a wealth of information about the meeting place and how he received payment, but was short on things to tell him about the man who hired him. 'Dressed in black with no recognizable features or way of standing or speaking' wasn't a lot to go on. Lin YangHei did provide the man's height, which he seemed rather sure of, but Jiang Cheng was aware that there were ways to alter or seem to alter that so he would take it with a grain of salt.

Jiang Cheng scratched his chin thoughtfully, frowning as he nodded pensively, "Your cooperation is noted and appreciated, Lin YangHei. You have given me much to think about."

"If Sect Leader Jiang is pleased, may I know what you plan to do with my companions?" Lin YangHei asked. His fingers clenched at his knees, betraying his nervousness, and Jiang Cheng thought it said something that his first question dealt not with his own fate but those of his followers. As it was, the kidnappers' fate was in his hands, and though normally he would not have hesitated to order their execution for all the innocent lives lost due to their actions, something stayed his hand. The answer to his final question would determine his course of action, he decided, leaving the question unanswered for the moment as he put the cloth bundle he'd received earlier on the table between them and opened it, displaying the sigils of a dozen sects.

They were fake of course, carved by some of his sect's disciples just that morning, but mixed in was the LanlingJin sigil that he'd found among Whiny's possessions. All that was left was to see if the other man would answer his next question honestly.

"Tell me, the item that A-Chin received from your employer, did it resemble any of these?" He asked.

At first Lin YangHei's brow furrowed, looking at each sigil intently before he pointed and said firmly, "Yes, that one. The object he was always bragging about clearly resembled that one." He identified the real sigil, and that confirmed Jiang Cheng's suspicions of something happening in his brother-in-law's sect. The fact that it took Lin YangHei longer than an instant to pick one simply added credibility to his selection.

Jiang Cheng sighed, re-wrapping the sigils in their cloth bundle and putting it off to the side. He looked straight into Lin YangHei's eyes. "The crimes you committed, horrible though they were, were committed out of desperation. After speaking with you and your companions, I have reason to believe that you aren't irredeemable, and so here is my judgment: You, Lin YangHei, along with your followers will remain under my sect's watch until I have judged you suitably repentant. You will be considered disciples on a probationary basis, and will be accompanied by a senior disciple at all times as you carry out your duties and attend lessons. Use of spiritual power shall be restricted to training, and only when in the presence of two or more senior disciples. At no point are you allowed to speak to your comrades alone, and if after several months you have proven yourselves trustworthy, we will see about moving you out of these huts and into regular disciple's quarters." He calmly delivered his verdict, inwardly laughing at the emotions flickering across the other man's face, a wide variety cycling through until his expression finally settled on disbelief.

And why shouldn't he be dumbfounded? It was the wish of nearly every rogue cultivator to one day be welcomed into a sect, and it seemed Lin YangHei and his compatriots were no exception. Even if they weren't exactly being welcomed with open arms, the YunmengJiang sect was still a major sect, and Jiang Cheng saw the longing flash through the other man's gaze before it was hidden.

"The woman, JiaoLi, seems to have a talent for first-aid. With some training, she may prove useful as a healer." The sect leader made a show of musing, "A-Pang might be a decent hand at drawing talismans, as I'm told he was responsible for the carvings on the trees, and once he's fully recovered it's likely that A-Lin will be a decent scout...so what about you? Do you have any particular talents aside from taking apart guest-houses, A-Hei?" His lips quirked up as the other's tightened, refusing to rise to the bait of the nickname. Jiang Cheng was the sect leader - he could call his disciples whatever the hell he wanted to, and A-Hei knew it.

Evidently deciding that the good outweighed the bad and knowing that the punishment was more lenient than the crime deserved, A-Hei grumbled before admitting, "If I know them at all, my comrades will take the deal. Your assessments are amazingly accurate." It wasn't lost on Jiang Cheng that the man had avoided his half-rhetorical question. The sect leader mentally shrugged; it wasn't like he wouldn't find out eventually.

"And you?" Jiang Cheng asked calmly, wishing idly that he had a cup of tea he could sip at. Nothing said unconcerned quite like drinking tea while someone made a life-changing decision. He could see Lin YangHei's mental battle plain as day, but as Jiang Cheng thought, the man wasn't the type to abandon those who depended on him.

"...I agree." Was forced out between clenched teeth, and Lin YangHei shuffled back from the table so that he could properly bow. "I thank you for your mercy, sect leader." His voice sounded like he'd eaten something sour, but Jiang Cheng would give him points for effort.

Nodding, Jiang Cheng got to his feet and collected his things, telling the back of Lin YangHei's bowed head, "Someone will be here later to take your measurements for a set of proper clothing and explain the rules and values of the sect, and tomorrow I will see about having some of your personal effects returned to you." It was only after he turned his back and went to the door that he sensed the other man raise his head. They would have to work on that, he mused. Respect had its place, but false-groveling got annoying rather quickly.

* * *

After visiting the other prisoners and getting their agreement to his terms, Jiang Cheng tracked down the disciple responsible for sect uniforms, a woman named Ran MeiFeng whose ability to imbue protective charms and other, not-so-nice spells into cloth made her the perfect choice for managing the bulk of his sect's clothing. He explained what he needed and the woman nodded thoughtfully, mumbling under her breath about the amounts of fabric and thread needed along with the seals that could be incorporated into the design before she assured him that it wouldn't be a problem. The robes would be done within the week. He left with the sound of menacing cackles at his heels as the woman called for her three assistants.

He shuddered. The woman was amazing at her job and also absolutely terrifying in her element, reminding him uncomfortably of Unohana Retsu. It was why he made it a point to stay on her good side ever since he both brought her into the sect and placed her in-charge of clothing for the majority of Lotus Pier.

His next stop was the storeroom to instruct the disciple on duty - still Xiao Bai, he noted - to divide the prisoners' belongings into dangerous and non-dangerous categories, with cultivational items automatically going into the 'dangerous' pile. The non-dangerous objects were to be returned to their owners tomorrow after lunch, he ordered, and Xiao Bai immediately voiced his understanding. The scholarly disciple set to his new task almost before being dismissed, and to see such eagerness in his students had Jiang Cheng concealing a satisfied smile.

A quick check of the sun revealed that he still had almost an hour before lunch, so he turned and headed for the training grounds. Though he seemed outwardly calm, worry about what Jin GuangYao was up to still lingered in the back of his mind, and that worry turned into concern for his unlucky brother and his persistent suitor, not to mention his headstrong nephew. He hummed thoughtfully, and decided that perhaps now would be a good time to step up all of his disciples' combat training. He could use a work-out, and you never knew when such practice would come in handy.

(Jin GuangYao wasn't nearly as bad as Aizen, but it never hurt to be prepared. Jiang Cheng had some ideas he'd just been _itching_ to try.)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure what happened here, because I started out writing in one style, then Ichigo showed up and said 'nope, write it this way'. I was basically staring in disbelief as the words appeared on the screen. LOL, I hope it's not too disjointed. Blame my inner Ichigo-voice, to who I am a slave. ;P


End file.
